At about 8:15 on Thursday morning, Mahmoud Muhammad Abd Al Rahman Saleh (17) left his house during an Israeli-imposed curfew, in order to meet his schoolmates and inquire about his final exam scheduled for that morning.

While on his way to one of his friends’ house near the health centre, located approximately 200 metres from his house, Mahmoud saw two Israeli military jeeps about 70 metres in the distance. He immediately turned around to walk back home, but the jeeps started to follow him. One of the jeeps, a police vehicle, reached within approximately one metre of Mahmoud, apparently trying to run him over. Mahmoud ran away to hide behind a car that was parked on the street, but the police car continued to follow Mahmoud. The police officer in the passenger seat then opened the door while the vehicle was still moving, and fired a shot at Mahmoud, injuring him in the foot. Mahmoud felt his left foot become paralyzed but he didn’t move, as the other jeep, a border patrol vehicle, was still about 20 metres away.

Once the two jeeps had left, Mahmoud crawled for five metres onto the middle of the street, and began calling for help. People then surrounded Mahmoud, and one of his friends wrapped his shirt around Mahmoud’s wound to stop the bleeding. At that point, a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance arrived and transported him to a public hospital.

After attending to Mahmoud’s first aid needs at the hospital, the doctors decided his foot needed to be operated on. However, Mahmoud was supposed to take the first of his final exams that day. The question was whether the surgery should be performed prior to or after this exam. Mahmoud decided to take the exam before undergoing surgery. Accordingly, the doctors provided the proper painkillers. After coordination with the Department of Education in Qalqiliya, two representatives were sent to the hospital in order to proctor the final exam for Mahmoud. Once he completed his first exam, he underwent surgery in order to remove the rubber-coated steel bullet from his leg. During Mahmoud’s six-day stay at the hospital, he completed three final exams, two of which were taken after his surgery. He was afraid that his exam results would be poor, as a result of his fear and physical pain.