The Israeli military said it killed a Palestinian “suspected of throwing a block” at soldiers on Saturday during an operation in the occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya.
A video reviewed by CNN shows a soldier shooting the young man when he is a short distance away. In an earlier statement, the military did not use the word “suspect,” and said the person “threw a block at the soldiers.”
The Palestinian was identified as 16-year-old Rayan Muhammad Abdul Qader Abu Mualla by the Ministry of Health, citing the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs (PGACA), which said his body is still being held by Israel after he was killed in the Al-Sab’aneh neighborhood in Qabatiya.
A 26-second security camera video shared on social media and geolocated by CNN to Al-Sab’aneh, shows what appears to be the moment Israeli troops shot Abu Mualla.
In the video, a person is walking through an alley towards two helmeted soldiers partially behind a corner. The person is about to reach the corner when one soldier raises his rifle and fires at point blank range, causing the person to tumble backwards.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in its initial statement that its soldiers had been attacked by a “terrorist.” The video shows the 18 seconds before the shooting, in which nothing seems to be thrown from the alley where the Palestinian teenager comes from. His left hand, however, is covered. It was not immediately clear who shot the video, who initially released it, or what happened before the video began.
On Saturday, the Israeli news site Ynet published what it says is a photo of Abu Mualla’s left hand gripping a piece of concrete, taken after his death. CNN could not verify whether the photo is of the same person in the security video.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli troops blocked its emergency workers from reaching the scene of the shooting.
A set of geolocated footage from CNN shows an ambulance, with its emergency lights on, stopped about 650 feet from the site of the shooting.
Asked for comment on the video and the allegation that emergency workers were blocked from reaching Abu Mualla, the IDF said: “Yesterday (Saturday), a Palestinian suspected of throwing a block at IDF soldiers was shot. The incident is being reviewed.”
Late on Saturday, Abu Mualla’s school announced on Facebook that it will close on Sunday in honor of his memory and pushed the exams a week earlier.
In a separate incident on Saturday, the Health Ministry said the IDF shot and killed a 22-year-old Palestinian man named Ahmed Saed Ziyoud in Silat al-Harathiya, a town north of Jenin in the West Bank.
The IDF said in a statement on Telegram that it shot at an individual in Silat al-Harathiya who “dropped an explosive” towards the soldiers.
On Sunday, the military branch of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, said he was a fighter in the Al-Quds Brigades. He was shot by an Israeli sniper’s bullet during the IDF’s storming of the city.
CNN’s Dana Karni contributed to this report.
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