Israeli soldiers assault Palestinian with Down syndrome

Israeli soldiers have assaulted a Palestinian youth with Down syndrome in the West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local Palestinian official on Saturday. 

The soldiers attacked Mahmoud Zayed, 26, with the back of their guns and left him with a broken arm in the Bab al-Zawiya area in Hebron on Friday, Ynis al-Juneidi, head of Palestinian group Fatah in Hebron, told Anadolu Agency. 

He said the soldiers had been deployed in the area to disperse Palestinian protests against the decades-long Israeli occupation. 

Al-Juneidi said Israeli soldiers often abuse and mock at the young Palestinian despite his health condition. 

Four Palestinians were martyred and an Israeli soldier was killed in an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip on Friday. 

Since March, more than 140 Palestinians have been martyred – and thousands more injured – in Palestinian protests against the decades-long Israeli occupation and an 11-year blockade, which has gutted the Gaza economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.