A mentally handicapped Palestinian was shot and wounded when Israeli soldiers raided a home in the occupied West Bank on Monday, hospital officials and family members said. Israeli soldiers stormed the home of Awwad Suroor, 41, and fired rubber bullets at him after he attacked a soldier and tried to steal his gun.

Sroor was shot three times with rubber-coated metal bullets and lost his right eye in the incident, the director of Ramallah Hospital said.The soldiers stormed the home to arrest Sroor’s brother, who was suspected of throwing tear gas at soldiers in a Palestinian protest in Nilin.

Sroor’s 20-year-old son said he tried to persuade the soldiers to hold their fire, by telling them his father is handicapped.

“My father was shouting at them in order to stop them. I told the soldiers that my father was mentally challenged, and that they should not pay attention to him," the son said.

Agencies