A three-year-old Palestinian child shot by the Israeli army last week in the occupied West Bank succumbed to his wounds on Monday (June 5th), Israeli and Palestinian sources said. The Palestinian Health Ministry announced in a brief statement the death of three-year-old Mohammed al-Tamimi from the village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. He was wounded by the Israeli army on Thursday night during exchanges of fire between soldiers and assailants near the settlement of Neveh Tzuf (Halamish), near Nabi Saleh, according to a military statement.
The army "regrets the harm done to non-combatants and is committed to doing everything in its power to prevent such incidents," she said. On the night of Thursday to Friday, she said that "assailants (had) opened fire in the direction of the community of Neveh Tzuf. Soldiers stationed near the community responded by firing a number of bullets." "As a result of live ammunition from the army, two Palestinians were wounded," the army said. "One of the two, a three-year-old child, was evacuated by military helicopter to an Israeli hospital."
"I and my son were shot"
The Sheba hospital where he was admitted, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, confirmed his death on Monday, "despite the many efforts of medical staff in recent days," according to a statement. His father, Haitham al-Tamimi, 40, told AFP late Thursday that he was with "(his) child in (his) car" at the time of the shooting. "We wanted to visit family. Suddenly I and my son were shot, I thought it came from the (military tower near Nabi Saleh)," he said in the emergency room of a Ramallah hospital where he had been evacuated with gunshot wounds to his shoulder.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 156 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli and Palestinian sources. These statistics include, on the Palestinian side, combatants and civilians, including minors, and on the Israeli side, the majority of whom are civilians, including minors, and three members of the Arab minority.
