Palestinian hurt in clash with IDF dies of wounds

A 20-year-old Palestinian man who was seriously injured in clashes with IDF troops near Ramallah last week died of his wounds on Wednesday night, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.

The report named the victim as Ali Mahmoud Safi, and said the army had used live fire, shooting him through the chest. The army had refuted the claim, saying at the time that only rubber bullets had been used.

Safi was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition after clashing with troops at the Jalazone refugee camp last Wednesday, and has been in a coma since. On Wednesday, he was pronounced dead.

Several Hebrew media outlets erroneously reported that he had died earlier this week.

According to the IDF, soldiers utilized riot control munitions after dozens of demonstrators in the camp threw rocks at the troops. Only after the situation escalated was the nonlethal weaponry used to disperse the crowd, the army said in a statement.

The man was evacuated to a hospital in Ramallah with stomach wounds after he was shot by a rubber bullet, the statement said.

No IDF soldiers were injured in the incident.

The Jalazone refugee camp is located northeast of Ramallah, in proximity to the settlement of Beit El, 30 kilometers north of Jerusalem.

Refugee camps in the Palestinian territories are often a stage for skirmishes between IDF troops and residents of the camps.

In February, a 19-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by IDF soldiers during unrest at the Deheishe refugee camp near the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

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