Border Police probes 2nd Ni'lin death

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
The Border Police on Wednesday night were investigating allegations that a second Palestinian in two days had been shot and killed by one of its officers in Ni'lin, east of Modi'in Illit. Yousef Ahmed Younis Amera, 18, succumbed to his wounds in a Ramallah hospital on Wednesday night, according to the International Solidarity Movement. The shooting came a day after Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa, 11, was shot and killed, allegedly by a border policeman operating in Ni'lin. According to Roger Smith of the International Solidarity Movement, the shooting occurred around 7:30 p.m., in the aftermath of Mousa's funeral on Wednesday afternoon, when a group of young men from Ni'lin erected five barricades at the entrance to the village. Smith said it was likely that Mousa and the 18-year-old were related. A bulldozer brought in by Border Police to clear away the barricades was met by a hail of stones. Clashes between the two groups continued for several hours, during which security forces used stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas, according to Smith. Amera was hit during the clashes by a rubber-coated bullet, said Smith, who was not present but cited eyewitness accounts. A volunteer from B'Tselem said that about eight other Palestinians were wounded. Amera's cousin Hamud told The Jerusalem Post that Amera was not involved in the violence but had been standing to the side watching what was going on when he was hit by a bullet. "He was simply standing there and then he fell to the ground. I saw him," Hamud said. According to the IDF, the evening riot was particularly violent and three border policemen were wounded by the rocks. The security personnel "were forced to use riot dispersal [techniques] against" the villager, the army said, adding that they, too, had heard that a Palestinian was seriously wounded. "The IDF and security forces are looking into this issue now," a Border Police spokesman said. He added that demonstrators should be aware that anyone "who enters into the middle of a disturbance zone can be injured." On Thursday, the Border Police is expected to reinforce its presence in the area, including deploying undercover agents, in response to the growing number of clashes. Security forces and Palestinians have clashed on several occasions in recent weeks during demonstrations against the construction of the security barrier near Ni'lin. According to activists in the area, another demonstration was planned for late Thursday morning.