East Jerusalem teen shot by police dies

An East Jerusalem teenager died of his wounds on Sunday a week after he was shot by Israeli police during a riot, but his family and authorities disagree on what caused his fatal wounds.

Muhammad Abd Al-Majid Sunuqrut, 16, from Wadi Joz, succumbed to his injuries at Hadassah Hospital at Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, where he was being treated in an effort to save his life.

Sunuqrut’s family said that he was shot in the head at close range with a rubber-coated bullet. However, police rejected the claim and offered a different version of events, saying he was shot in the leg and then fell over, hitting his head against the ground.

A group of Arab youths rioted in Wadi Joz after news of Sunuqrut’s death was released. One Jewish driver was lightly injured by a rock thrown at his car.

Arab shopkeepers on main thoroughfares in Jerusalem’s Old City closed their shops after hearing of Sunuqrut’s death.

The victim’s father, Abd al-Majid Sunuqrut told Ma’an, a Palestinian news agency, that his son “died as a martyr” and added that his body is to undergo an autopsy at Israel’s Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, to be performed by a Palestinian doctor with a lawyer in attendance.

The shooting took place on August 31 in the Wadi Joz neighborhood of East Jerusalem during a demonstration in which police clashed with protesters.

While Sunuqrut’s family claim he was an innocent bystander and not involved in the disturbances, police said he was throwing rocks at security forces when he was shot in the leg with a foam-tipped bullet. He was first taken to Mokassed Hospital in Jerusalem, and then transferred to Hadassah.

There have been sporadic riots in East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the beginning of July over the killing of Arab teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, for which three Jewish suspects were charged. Police said the slaying was likely nationalistically motivated, in response to the killings in June of Gil-ad Shaar, 16, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19.