An 18-year-old Palestinian died Sunday after a confrontation with Israeli troops, with the army saying it happened while trying to flee and Palestinian officials saying he had been beaten.
The Palestinian health ministry said that Amer Abdel-Rahim Sanouber from the village of Yatma in the occupied West Bank arrived at hospital after being “severely beaten on the neck.”
The head of the Palestine Medical Complex,Ahmed al-Betawi, was quoted in the ministry statement as a identifying Sanouber as a “martyr” who was brought to the hospital at 3:00 a.m. with “signs of violence and beatings on his neck from the back.”
Asked about the incident, Israel’s army said troops responded to an incident north of Ramallah after rocks were hurled at an army vehicle.
Troops “in the area were dispatched to the scene and searched the area for assailants” the army statement said.
“Initial details suggest that upon the arrival of the troops... the two suspects tried to escape by foot,” it said.
“While fleeing, one of the suspects apparently lost consciousness, collapsed and hit his head. The suspect was not beaten by the troops,” the army added.
It said troops at the scene and army medical teams provided medical attention to the suspect, who was “declared dead” following several “resuscitation attempts.”
Details of altercations involving Palestinians and Israel’s army in the West Bank have been harder to access since the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority ended security coordination with Israel in May.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the decision was made in response to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
