Palestinian man paralysed after being shot in the neck by Israel soldiers

A Palestinian man is suffering from paralysis after being shot in the neck by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

Haron Abu Aram, 24, was shot on Friday in the village of Al-Tuwanah, south of Hebron, while he attempted to prevent the soldiers from “stealing his electric generator,” according to Wafa news agency.

An absolutely horrendous microcosm of apartheid in the West Bank today. Palestinian man – Harun Abu Aram – desperately tries to rescue his electric generator which Israeli soldiers have seized. So a soldier shoots him. Harun is now in critical condition.https://t.co/46RevPwDQP pic.twitter.com/pwPAR86CwM

— Ben White (@benabyad) January 1, 2021

He was admitted in critical condition to the hospital in Yatta before being transferred to Hebron’s Ahli Hospital.

In the video, Abu Aram, who was barefoot, is seen being hit in the head multiple times by the soldiers along with the other three Palestinians, before a gunshot is heard and the camera turns back to his unconscious body.

According to Israeli rights group B’Tselem, Abu Aram had been helping with construction at his neighbour’s home before the incident.

It added that the Israeli army demolished Abu Aram’s home on 25 November under the pretext that it lacked the necessary building licenses.

Palestinians are rarely granted building permits by Israeli occupation authorities, especially in occupied East Jerusalem.

The building permits are charged at extortionate prices and are unaffordable for most Palestinians, creating a legal loophole for Israel to annex more land and to leave Palestinians in limbo by preventing them from developing infrastructure.

“The soldiers arrived with the intention of confiscating equipment that the family was using for the construction, including a generator,” B’Tselem said in a statement.

“Abu Aram was shot in the neck from a close distance as he and other Palestinians were attempting to retrieve the generator from the soldiers.”

Israel’s ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes and illegal settlement construction, which have accelerated following the UAE’s decision to normalise relations with the occupying state, have become a major source of concern.

In 2020, Israel demolished the homes of more than 900 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, added B’Tselem.

READ: 16 Palestinians injured by Israeli army