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Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers have broken out at the funeral of a 10-year-old Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. The mourners marched from the city of Ramallah to Ni'lin on Wednesday, chanting slogans condemning Mussa's killing. Clashes broke out when the procession reached the village, with Palestinians hurling stones and Israeli soldiers firing tear gas grenades and rubber-coated bullets. Five Palestinians were injured and a 16-year-old was in serious condition after being shot in the eye and the head with rubber-coated bullets, doctors at a nearby hospital said. At the funeral, Rafik Husseini, an aide to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said Tuesday's shooting was "truly a crime against a child". "The Israeli army, with its actions in Ni'lin and the rest of the West Bank, is trying to destroy any chance of peace and of a solution with two states living side-by-side," he said. Said Abu Ali, the governor of Ramallah, said that the autopsy indicated that Mussa was struck by a single bullet from an M16 assault rifle that entered his forehead and exited the back of his head.
Manor also said that troops did not have permission to use live fire, but did not say whether the military thought that that was what killed the boy. Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from Ni'lin, said that the use of live rounds is a controversial issue. "Human rights groups have condemned its use, and say it is a breach of international law," he said. "The growing anger against this wall, and the sheer number of protesters that continuously gather here has overwhelmed the police and the military, to an extent where they are losing control." Fifteen people were also lightly injured by rubber-coated bullets during the demonstration in Ni'lin, which has in recent months become the site of regular demonstrations against the barrier. Earlier this month, demonstrators in Ni'lin and other locations marked four years since the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding resolution calling for parts of the barrier inside the West Bank to be torn down and for a halt to construction there. |