Anger as Israel denies its forces shot Palestinian teen

NABI SALEH: Israel on Tuesday denied its forces shot a Palestinian teenager and said he suffered a severe head injury when he fell off his bicycle, sparking outrage from activists and his family.

Mohammed Tamimi, 15, confirmed to AFP that after being arrested from his home in the middle of the night he had told Israeli interrogators the cause of his misshapen skull was falling off his bike, not being shot.

But he said it was only because he was afraid of being charged with involvement in a protest, adding that “they knew” he was lying.A cousin of prominent jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, he says he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during a protest in the occupied West Bank in December, leaving part of his skull missing.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem produced medical documents appearing to verify that Tamimi was shot. The family has also presented what they say is an X-ray showing the bullet wound.

It occurred the day Ahed, then 16, slapped and kicked two soldiers next to her house in a video that later went viral.She faces a long potential jail sentence in a case that has gained international attention.

Mohammed’s alleged shooting has been a key line of defence for Ahed’s actions by her lawyer in court hearings.But on Tuesday, an Israeli defence ministry unit that oversees affairs in the Palestinian territories said Mohammed had confessed the injury was the result of falling off a bike.

“In December 2017, the young man Mohammed Tamimi injured his skull when he was riding his bicycle and fell off,” it said in an Arabic language statement posted on Twitter. “Today his father Abu Fadel Tamimi is claiming in the media that his son was injured by a rubber bullet in his skull,” it said, adding in bold red letters “fake news”.