The Palestinian boy killed in a Gaza border riot on Friday was not killed by IDF fire but by a "hard object that fractured his skull and caused internal bleeding," the Palestinian human rights group Al-Mezan said in a report on Sunday.
The report did not specify the nature of the "hard object" but, in all likelihood, 12-year-old Shady Abdel Aal was hit in the head by a rock thrown by other Palestinians at IDF troops.
The IDF says it has evidence showing the boy was hit by a rock thrown by protesters.
IDF Spokesman in Arabic Maj. Avichay Adraee tweeted on Sunday night that according to sources and eyewitnesses, the boy was wounded by a rock thrown by another protester.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which over the weekend said the boy had been killed by Israeli fire, admitted it was impossible to determine the cause of death definitively because, in line with Muslim custom, autopsies cannot be performed on "martyrs."
In May, the Gaza Health Ministry removed a baby from its official death toll after it was found that she died from a pre-existing medical condition, not from Israeli tear gas as claimed.
During the violent border demonstrations on Friday, Palestinians hurled rocks, firebombs and grenades at troops under cover of smoke from burning tires, wounding one soldier. Nine Palestinians briefly crossed into Israel, the army said.
