16 year old Muhammed Sunuqrut died in hospital on Sunday after being critically wounded by Israeli forces in an East Jerusalem protest last week. Relatives state that the teenager was shot in the head at close range with a rubber-coated bullet.
Muhammed Sunuqrut was declared clinically dead at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, on Thursday before dying on Sunday.
He was wounded in the Wadi Joz neighborhood close to his home on the 31st of August. The teenager’s uncle, Motabi Sunuqrut, said the boy had not even taken part in the demonstrations and that the area was quiet at the time of the incident.
“Ten minutes earlier I returned home and nothing was happening. He left home and was talking to his aunt on the phone, when suddenly he was shot at close range. After he fell the soldiers went on beating him and wouldn’t let anyone come near him to treat him,” he said.
The family lawyer revealed that an autopsy is to be conducted on Monday at Abu Kabir forensic center supervised by the director of the Palestinian Institute for Forensic Science, Saber al-Aloul.
Crucially the autopsy may determine the true cause of the teenager's death. Israeli forces claim that Sunuqrut was shot in the leg. Medical staff, however, have stated that he died of complications after the rubber-coated steel bullet hit his skull.
The boy's death sparked further clashes with Israeli forces in Wadi Joz neighbourhood.