A picture of 12-year-old Abdel Rahman Nawfal screaming in pain after being shot was widely shared on Palestinian and Arabic social media last week after he was shot near the border fence.
The shooting occurred on Tuesday during clashes along the frontier east of Al-Bureij in central Gaza.
He was later taken from Gaza to the West Bank for treatment but doctors were unable to save the leg.
Attempting to smile as he lay on his hospital bed in Ramallah, Nawfal said he had been stoning Israeli soldiers close to the border when he was shot.
“My friends went to throw stones at the army near Al-Bureij camp. I went with them and started to throw stones,” he said.”Soon after I felt the injury.”
He said he dreamed of becoming a doctor and would still like to realise that dream. To leave Gaza for treatment in the West Bank, Palestinians have to get permits from Israel which critics say are difficult to obtain. On Friday, Gaza teenager Mohamed Ayoub was killed by Israeli gunfire during border protests.The 15-year-old’s death, and the wounding of other youths brought a scathing response from a senior United Nations official.
“It is outrageous to shoot at children...#Children must be protected from #violence, not exposed to it,” UN special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process Nikolay Mladenov wrote on Twitter.
The Israeli army said on Saturday that it was opening an investigation into the incident, in accordance with standard
procedure.