The family of the 18-year-old Palestinian shot dead by the Israeli military during protests on the Gaza strip has denied he was a member of Islamist militant group Hamas.
Video captures the moment Abdel Fattah Abd al-Nabi is shot by an Israeli sniper in the back as he runs through no-man’s-land on Friday carrying a tyre.
The Israeli Defence Force has defended its actions and called the footage ‘Hamas propaganda’ after it went viral.
The IDF claims the video had been edited and does not show al-Nabi’s potentially provocative actions before he was killed. But the teenager’s family claim he was unarmed.
‘He had no gun, no Molotov, a tyre. Does that harm the Israelis, a tyre?’ his brother Mohamed al-Nabi, 22, told the Washington Post.
‘He wasn’t going toward the Israeli side. He was running away.’
A statement released on by the IDF reads: ‘During yesterday’s violent riots and terrorist attacks, IDF troops faced gunshots, infiltration attempts, damage to security infrastructure, firebombs, rocks and rolling burning tyres.
‘The IDF operated in strict accordance with the rules of engagement, firing only when necessary and avoiding civilians strategically placed by Hamas in harm’s way.’
Shocking: The video footage shows Abdel Fattah Abd al-Nabi running towards the camera, away from the Israeli border, holding a tyre
Shot dead: The teenager is shot in the back of the head by a sniper, seen in this video recorded by a bystander on Friday
While not denying that al-Nabi was shot in the back as he ran away from the Israeli border, an IDF spokesperson ‘noted that the video in question was edited and did not show the period immediately before a-Nabi was shot’.
The IDF also said that ten of the 18 people killed as a result of Friday’s violence were members of the Qassam Brigades – the armed wing of Hamas – and included Al-Nabi on their list.
However, the list of martyrs published by Hamas themselves carries only five names, none of which is Al-Nabi’s.
This has also been vehemently denied by the al-Nabi family, who say he ‘was not involved in any military activity with the Qassam Brigades or anyone else’.
‘He was a child, like any other child,’ his father Bahjat al-Nabi told The Telegraph.
‘This is the Israeli plan of making it look like the dead had rifles but actually they are murderers and the dead are the victims.’
A picture taken of the mourning tent erected in honour of al-Nabi this weekend, shows a large banner from Hamas behind his father, which, according to the Telegraph, indicates that there is a possible link to the group ‘although not necessarily to its armed wing’.
Continued protests: A Palestinian protester burns tyres during clashes with Israeli forces near the border with Israel, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday
Injuries: Palestinian paramedics carry a protestor injured during clashes with Israeli forces in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday
Hundreds have been injured in the latest protests held on the Israeli-Gaza border which began on Friday last week
Yesterday it was reported that the death toll from Friday’s violence had risen to 18, as another Palestinian man succumbed to his injuries.
More than 750 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in Friday’s protest, according to Gaza health officials, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.
Israel’s military has faced questions from rights groups over its use of live fire on Friday, the bloodiest day in the conflict since a 2014 war, while Palestinians accused soldiers of firing on protesters posing no threat.
Both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini have called for an independent investigation.
On Saturday, the United States blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation of the violence, diplomats said.
Grief: Palestinian relatives of Faris al-Reqib, 29, who was killed during clashes at Israel-Gaza border, mourn during his funeral in Khan Younis on Monday
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the soldiers for ‘guarding the country’s borders,’ while Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the protests were not a ‘Woodstock festival’.
Today, violence has continued in the area, as an Arab Israeli man was shot dead by soldiers Tuesday after crashing into a hitch-hiking stop in the occupied West Bank and then attempting to flee, officials said.
No other injuries were reported and officials said the crash was still being investigated. It was not for now being labelled an attack.
Israel’s military said the incident occurred near the Jewish settlement of Ariel, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus.
The driver was in a stolen car and being pursued when he crashed into the hitch-hiking spot, the army said in a statement.
He then attempted to flee on foot and was shot by soldiers in the area, the army said.
It did not provide details on the driver’s identity, but official Palestinian news agency WAFA identified him as an Arab Israeli.
Palestinians and Arab Israelis have regularly carried out car-ramming attacks against Israelis, but Israeli security forces have also faced allegations of excessive force in certain cases.