Israeli forces shot 6-year-old Musab al-Sarahneh in the eye in al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron early last week, his family reported.

The boy lost his right eye after Israeli forces opened fire on the car he was traveling in with rubber-coated steel bullets, according to the family’s account.

At the time, last Friday, Musab was sitting in a car holding his mother’s hand as they made their way home, his family says.

As they approached the entrance to al-Fawwar refugee camp, an Israeli soldier opened fire at their car out of nowhere, according to Musab’s mother. She said that the Israeli soldier who shot Musab was only about 40 meters from their car.

Immediately following the incident, Musab noticed blood flowing from right eye, and was taken to the hospital. One of the rubber-coated metal bullets fired by the Israeli soldier hit Musab straight in the eye.

Musab told Ma’an that earlier in the day he had gone with his mother to visit his uncle’s house. While making their way back home, an Israeli soldier shot him, he said.

Musab wondered: “Why did the Israeli soldier shoot me? I lost my eye, and I am still so young for that.”

Musab’s father explained: “I left the house and my son had two eyes, and I came back home and now my son has one eye.” He noted that he couldn’t even look at his son, and that it was painful for him to see his son suffering.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the incident occurred as Israeli forces closed the main entrance to al-Fawwar refugee camp, deploying around bypass road 60.

Some boys gathered and threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas canisters in response, the group said, and as a result, several boys suffered tear-gas inhalation.

Around the same time, the group said, a soldier fired rubber-coated metal bullets at a woman and her children while they were standing nearby, leading to Sarahna’s injury.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)