Israeli occupation forces killed a mentally handicapped man, his parents only son, in Palestine's occupied East Jerusalem on the morning of May 30th.
32-year-old Iyad Khairi al-Hallak was shot and killed by Israel's occupation forces in his home neighbourhood of Wad al-Jouz.
According to his parents, he was 'a child in a man's body'. Press reports say he had a mental age of a 7-year-old, and had trouble hearing and speaking.
His mother said that she had been scared about Iyad's encounters with Israeli occupation forces because of his condition. His father said that their son wanted to go to school, because there he could interact with others, whereas at home he was bored and just sat in his room.
THE KILLING
When he was killed, Iyad was on his way to the al-Bakriyyah School special school for the handicapped, where he had been going on for six years, and where he according to some reports worked as a barber.
Israeli occupation forces stopped the autistic young man, who was escorted by a caregiver Warda Abu Hadid. He got scared and tried to run away, while Abu Hadi shouted in Hebrew to the occupation forces that Iyad was disabled. He was shot at three time, fell to the ground begging help, got up and ran away to a cul-de-sac. where he hid behind a dumpster in an enclosed garbage collection area.
There he was shot at least four more times. According to several sources, all bullets which hit him were shot by one of the three occupation forces members who chased him. Two of the shots are said to have been fatal, both hitting him in the chest. This person continued to fire at him after he had fallen to the ground again, because he 'still moved', evem after being ordered by his commanding officer to stop shooting.
According to the killer, he shot al-Hallak because he thought he was 'a terrorist' - because the disabled man was 'wearing gloves'. Israeli occupation also at first claimed that the victim would have had something in his hand, which in some media reports was aid to be 'a gun'.
According to Abu Hadid, the occupation forces came to her after shooting Iyad, threatening her with their guns and demanding that she give her 'the pistol' which they now claimed Iyad would have given to her.
According to Iyad's father Khairi al-Hallak, his son would have had his mobile phone in his hand when he was stopped by the occupation forces.
Iyad al-Hallak was left to bleed without being given any medical aid after he was shot.
AFTERMATH
Israeli occupation troops raided the family home after the killing, interrogating his father. His sister, upset, was cursed at by one of the occupation forces members who raided the family home and, according to at least one report, beaten.
Israeli occupation returned Iyad's body late on Sunday May 31st, ordering that his funeral would have to take place the next night, as it did.
Press has been banned from reporting the identities of the Israeli occupation forces' members involved in his killing until at least June 3rd by Israel's regime.
They are facing charge of 'causing death through negligence'.
no occupation forces' members were injured.
