The Palestinian Prisoner's Society said Wednesday that Israeli doctors had decided to amputate the leg of 13-year-old Palestinian Ahmad al-Muti after he was severely wounded by Israeli forces last week.
The child was reportedly shot by Israeli forces during a protest in Bethlehem with a "dum-dum" bullet -- a bullet that expands inside the body on impact -- in his right leg on Sept. 18 before he was detained by Israeli forces, the prisoners' society told Ma'an.
The Israeli army told the society that Al-Muti was shot and detained for throwing stones, but al-Muti's lawyer said that the 13-year-old was taking his brother to a nearby hospital when he was hit.
The child was taken by Israeli forces to Hadassah hospital in Ein Kerem for treatment, where he has been held under tight Israeli security ever since, the society said.
When one of the society's lawyers visited Al-Muti in hospital on Monday he reported that the child was chained to his hospital bed despite his injury and was in serious health condition.
On Sept. 29, an Israeli court ruled that Al-Muti would be released on bail of 7,000 shekels ($1,780). However, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society told Ma'an that the prosecutors had appealed his release and a decision would be made within 72 hours.
The use of "dum-dum" bullets constitutes a war crime under international law, but Israeli rights group B'Tselem has reported instances where the bullets have been used by Israeli forces as a method of crowd control.
The head of the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, on Wednesday condemned the decision by Israeli doctors to go through with the amputation, calling the decision a "crime," that would cause al-Muti suffering for the rest of his life .
A spokesperson for the Hadassah hospital did not have any immediate information on the case, and an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an they were looking into the incident.
An average of 40 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces per week since the beginning of 2015, according to documentation by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
