Activists: Palestinian protester dies from wounds

[December 10, 2011]  JERUSALEM (AP) -- A Palestinian protester hit in the face by a projectile fired by Israeli forces died of his wounds Saturday, activists said.

Witnesses say Mustafa Tamimi, 28, was hurling rocks at a military vehicle when he was struck in the head by a tear gas canister during a demonstration on Friday in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

Tensions also simmered on Israel's southern border and in Gaza, where mourners buried a 12-year-old boy killed in an Israeli strike on Friday. Militants also fired two rockets at Israel.

Tamimi is the 20th person to be killed over the past eight years at demonstrations throughout the West Bank, said Sarit Michaeli of the Israeli rights group Btselem.

The army's use of canisters has come under sharp criticism in the past few years. Military officials say they are using the gas to quell violent demonstrations.

Photographs taken by pro-Palestinian Israeli activist Haim Schwarczenberg show Tamimi rushing after an armored military vehicle. The photographer says he was throwing rocks.

He then crumples to the ground a few yards (meters) from the back of the vehicle. His friends rush to the scene, covering his bloodied face with a black-and-white Palestinian checkered scarf.

"As he was throwing stones, a soldier opened the door of the back of the jeep. A soldier took his gun out and shot him directly," Schwarczenberg said.

Tamimi succumbed to his wounds at the Beilinson Hospital in central Israel, said Israeli pro-Palestinian activist Jonathan Pollak.

Tamimi's supporters accused soldiers of using excessive force to deal with the protester.

"The question is not whether the person is throwing stones or not throwing stones, the question is whether the army is allowed to use deadly force from within an armored vehicle," said activist Pollak.

The canisters, which emit acrid smoke, are meant to push back crowds. But some Israeli troops have fired them directly at demonstrators, causing severe injuries and death.

The military spokeswoman said that forces generally used canisters "to contain the violent and illegal riots that take place in Judea and Samaria," referring to the West Bank by its Biblical name. "Such means were used during the course of yesterday's riot in Nabi Saleh."

Tear gas canister casualties include Palestinian Bassem Abu Rahmeh, who was killed when a tear gas canister fired by troops in 2009 hit his chest.

They also include Tristan Anderson of Oakland, Calif., who is suffering from brain damage, paralysis and seizures after he was hit in the head with a canister at a 2009 demonstration.

The West Bank sees weekly demonstrations against Jewish settlement activity and the building of Israel's separation barrier, which has swallowed Palestinian farmland in its route.

In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, hundreds of angry mourners marched in a funeral procession for a 12-year-old boy who was killed on Friday in an Israeli strike.

Nearby, Palestinian militants fired two rockets toward Israel, but they caused no injuries, said a military spokeswoman.

The all-male funeral procession passed through the Shati refugee camp as weeping women watched from nearby windows.

Israeli forces had carried multiple airstrikes against Hamas facilities and suspected militants on Friday.

It was a sharp escalation after weeks of sporadic but persistent rocket fire by Palestinian militants, followed by Israeli retaliatory strikes.

One airstrike damaged a house next to a targeted site, killing 42-year-old civilian Bahajat Zaalan and wounding several family members. One of the wounded, Zaalan's son Ramadan, died of his injuries later Friday.

A strike on Wednesday killed one militant, while another strike on Thursday near a crowded park in Gaza City killed two more, scattering their body parts over the area. Israel says the militants were planning to infiltrate Israel to carry out attacks.

[Associated Press; By DIAA HADID]

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