Israel shoots Palestinian boy, 7, in the head with tear gas grenade

A seven-year-old Palestinian boy was seriously wounded yesterday by a tear gas canister fired by the Israeli forces during clashes that broke out in Bethlehem’s southern village of Al-Khader, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The director of the ambulance and emergency department of the Red Crescent in Bethlehem, Muhammad Awad, told Quds Press that Hasan Ahmad Issa was being treated at the Bethlehem Arab Society Hospital in Beit Jala after he was hit in the head by a tear gas canister.

Officials said Issa suffered from internal bleeding and “would not need surgical intervention”.

Hours later, he was reported to be in a stable condition.

18-month-old Palestinian Abdulrahman Barghouti was hospitalised on May 19 2017 after Israeli forces showered his home in tear gas. [Twitter]

Israel has come under repeated criticism for its excessive crowd control methods that often result in the injury or death of protesters, amid a backdrop of what critics have called a culture of impunity for Israeli soldiers.

On Friday, 18-month-old Abdul Rahman Barghouti was hospitalised after Israeli forces showered his family’s home with tear gas in the occupied West Bank village of Aboud, Ramallah.