Israel hands over body of slain Palestinian teen for burial

The body of a Palestinian teenager shot dead by Israeli soldiers who were pursuing rock throwers was released for burial on Wednesday night.

The Ma’an News Agency reported that the Palestinian Red Crescent transferred the body of Mahmoud Badran from Ofer Prison to the governmental hospital in Ramallah.

At the West Bank medical complex, protesters gathered and demanded “revenge for the blood of the martyr,” the report said. The funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

Israeli troops on Monday shot dead Badran, 15, and injured several others who were initially suspected of throwing rocks at Israeli motorists. The IDF later acknowledged that they had not been involved and said they were shot in error.

Badran’s father on Wednesday accused the army of what he said was the army’s belittlement of his son’s death.

“You declared that you made a mistake, but the bottom line is that you killed a boy,” Rafat Badran said to Army Radio. “You cut short the dream of a boy who dreamt of being a doctor, of playing for Real Madrid. And you just say you made a mistake, like one who says he made a mistake counting a little money. That’s how you see this issue in your army.”

The military said it opened an investigation into the incident, which occurred on Route 443 near the Palestinian village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, an army spokesperson said.

Three Israelis were injured when their car was pelted with stones and Molotov cocktails, the IDF said, and several other vehicles were also damaged.

The father of the killed teenager said the boys were returning from a night swim in a nearby spring when the fatal shooting occurred. They were celebrating the fact that their cousin from Qatar was in town, he said.

Palestinian boy 'mistakenly' killed by Israeli forces while driving near stone-throwing https://t.co/jFW4wkr7NF pic.twitter.com/f7bSKpzqpm

— Ma'an News Agency (@MaanNewsAgency) June 21, 2016

According to Badran, the car his son was in was shot through the roof as well as through the rear window.