Egyptian border guards shoot and kill naked Gazan man

The spokesman of Hamas’s police in Gaza says Egyptian border guards opened fire last week, killing a purportedly mentally disabled Gazan who tried to get across the border between Egypt and the coastal strip.

The spokesman, Eyad al-Bozom, says the shooting occurred Thursday and accused the Egyptians of killing the Gazan in “cold blood.” He says the man, Ishaq Hassan, 28, was harmless and naked and was trying to cross the coastal border.

Al-Bozom says Palestinian policemen on the Gaza Strip’s side of the border shouted at the Egyptian soldiers not to shoot but were ignored.

Hassan’s family denied any mental illness, insisting he was sane, but desperate, explaining to The New York Times that he had been trying to obtain medical care in Egypt for an old injury.

“Ishaq thought that Egyptians will be like Europeans, who deal with Syrians and welcome them,” the Times quoted his brother Ibrahim Hassan as saying.

Al-Bozom, the Hamas spokesman, urged Egyptian authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the shooting.

Egypt maintains a blockade on its border with Gaza.

Egyptian military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir declined to comment on the incident.

AP contributed to this report.