Palestinian man wounded by Israeli police in Al-Aqsa raid dies weeks later

A 23-year-old Palestinian died on Saturday of injuries caused by Israeli forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound three weeks ago, the Jerusalem Detainees’ Families Committee has confirmed to The New Arab.

Waleed Al-Sharif, from Jerusalem’s Old City, was seriously wounded on 22 April as Israeli security forced Palestinians out of Al-Aqsa in one of many raids on the compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mohammad Abu Hummus, a Palestinian media activist who has documented Israeli raids on Al-Aqsa, told The New Arab that he was at the compound when Waleed was hit in the head by a rubber bullet.

"Israeli police fired many bullets, and one hit Waleed in the head," Abu Hummus said.

"He remained on the floor for several minutes, before Israeli policemen carried him outside the sanctuary, where they left him bleeding for another twenty minutes until the ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital," he added.

This video documents the moment when the Palestinian youth Walid Sharif (23) got shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet in the head during the raid of Al Aqsa mosque on 22.4.2022. Today, Sharif succumbed to his wounds after few weeks in the hospital. 14.5.2022 pic.twitter.com/oBVbbUnr6k

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) May 14, 2022

Alaa Haddad, a friend of Al-Sharif, told The New Arab: "Waleed was like many of his age in Jerusalem’s Old City.

"He had dropped out of school early to work in construction, dreamed of having some stability in the future, and to be present at Al-Aqsa during Ramadan," said Haddad, who spoke to The New Arab from the victim’s parents’ home in Jerusalem’s Old City.

"He was very affected by the events happening in Jerusalem, especially the storming of Al-Aqsa by Israeli settlers, and wanted to stay in the mosque as much as he could.

"His parents and family members are in a state of grief, not willing to speak to anyone."

Palestinians bid farewell to the 18-year-old Thaer Yazouri who was shot dwad by Israeli forces in Al-Beirah, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/ev6Zw3Y5Zl

— Layla Khaled 𓂆 (@LaylaKh87004292) May 11, 2022

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli forces killed 16-year-old Palestinian schoolboy Thaer Al-Yazouri in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah, after opening fire at a student protest outside his school near the Psagot settlement.

Earlier the same day, Israeli forces killed Palestinian-American journalist and Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh as she covered a military raid in the Jenin refugee camp, in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Some 40 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the beginning of 2022.