Ibrahim Abu Thuraya: Disabled Palestinian activist shot dead by Israeli troops in Jerusalem protest

Wheelchair-bound Ibraheem Abu Thuraya, 29, was one of four Palestinians killed during Friday's violent clashes, according to officials. Witnesses said he was unarmed.

The Palestinian Authority's health ministry said Mr Thuraya was shot just east of Gaza City, with the Israeli army saying it opened fire on the "main instigators" of violent protests at the Gaza border. A 31-year-old, Yasser Sokhar, was killed in the same clash.

The violent protests followed the decision by Donald Trump earlier this month to officially recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Another 82 Palestinians were injured, five of them seriously, in clashes along Gaza's border with Israel, the health ministry said.

Mr Thuraya had lost his legs and a kidney in an air strike, according to local reports, and was regularly seen with other Palestinian activists at protests.

"He was injured in 2008 by an Israeli helicopter that targeted him after he brought down the Israeli flag and raised the Palestinian flag along the border," his brother Samir told AFP .

"It did not stop him from demonstrating for Jerusalem. He went alone every day to the border."

In video footage apparently recorded shortly before his death, Mr Thuraya can be seen carrying the Palestinian flag and waving the victory sign at Israeli soldiers.

In another video, he is heard saying: "This land is our land. We are not going to give up. America has to withdraw the declaration it has made."

Tear gas was reportedly used against the protesters and at some point Mr Thuraya abandoned his wheelchair, crawling through the grass before he was shot.

Photos and videos showing Mr Thuraya being pushed in his wheelchair shortly before his death have been widely shared on social media.

Nasser Atta, a Jerusalem-based journalist, said on Twitter the death of the Gaza amputee "will be the beginning of the start of a third intifada, they compare him to Mohammed al-Dura killed during the Second Intifada".

Mohammed al-Dura was a 12-year-old boy killed by Israeli forces during rioting on the Gaza Strip in 2000, prompting worldwide condemnation and violent retribution.

According to the Middle East Eye, Mr Thuraya was known for climbing electricity poles and holding up Palestinian flags during protests.

He told the Irish Friends of Palestine: "Please never look at my disabled body, look at the great job I am doing. I never get despaired. It's not the end of the world and life should go on."

Source: Independent