Deir aL-Balah, Gaza Strip, June 19 (EFE).- A Palestinian father recovering in a Gaza hospital says Israeli soldiers shot and killed his four-year-old son during an encounter near Deir al-Balah over the weekend, an incident the Israeli military says is under investigation after acknowledging that troops fired warning shots in the area.
Bahadin Mohamed Abu al-Ayin told EFE that he was walking along Salah al-Din Road with his son, Rayan, and his brother-in-law when they encountered Israeli soldiers near military positions east of Deir al-Balah.
According to Abu al-Ayin, the group was about 250 meters from the nearest Israeli troops when they came face-to-face with soldiers.
«The army shouldn’t have been there,» he said from his bed at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where he is being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg. «When I saw them ahead of us, I didn’t know whether to move forward or go back, and the boy started screaming.»
The father alleges that one of the soldiers then aimed his weapon and opened fire.
