Ibrahim Abu Thuraya: Disabled Palestinian activist killed by Israeli gunfire, finds autopsy

A disabled Palestinian activist was shot dead by Israeli troops as he protested against Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel‘s capital, an autopsy has found.

Ibraheem Abu Thuraya, 29, who lost both legs in an Israeli air strike, was one of four Palestinians killed during violent clashes on 15 December last year.

At the time of the shooting, the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said Mr Thuraya was shot just east of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it had opened fire on the “main instigators” of violent protests at the Gaza border, who it said were throwing firebombs and rocks.

Witnesses said Mr Thuraya was unarmed.

On Sunday, the justice ministry in Gaza said his body had been exhumed and a Hamas-affiliated commission said he had been shot by Israeli forces.

Multiple tests, including X-rays, “revealed the bullet entered above his left eye and stayed in his head,” Emad al-Baz, a spokesman for the organisation tasked with gathering evidence of alleged Israeli crimes, said according to the AFP news agency.

He said the autopsy showed the bullet was fired from around 30 metres away, which matches the distance between protesters and the Israeli army.

The Israeli military closed its initial probe into Mr Thuraya’s death after only a day, saying its forces had fired at protesters but not directly at the wheelchair-bound man. It said it was impossible to determine the cause of his death.

The IDF has since launched a criminal investigation into Mr Thurayeh’s death

Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza for a decade, claiming it is necessary to contain the territory’s Islamist rulers Hamas, who called for a new uprising in response to Mr Trump’s Jerusalem declaration.