Autopsy confirms bullet fired at point-blank range killed al-Sharif

The autopsy conducted on the body Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif on Sunday confirmed that the 21-year-old Palestinian activist was still alive before a bullet fired at his head at point-blank range by an Israeli trooper killed him, according to a statement from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Palestinian doctor Rayan al-Ali, who attended al-Sharif's autopsy, said: “The results of the autopsy were expected.

What the whole world saw on the video that documented the shooting was more than enough, but the autopsy results assured it.

” He added in his statement that he would hold a press conference on Monday to give further details about the results of the autopsy, which took place at the Israeli Institute for Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir near Tel Aviv.

A court order by the Israeli Supreme Court Thursday denied an appeal to allow a Palestinian doctor to partake in the autopsy itself.

The court later granted permission for al-Ali to merely attend and take notes for the autopsy report of al-Sharif, whose killing by an Israeli trooper on March 24 has been branded by the UN as an “extrajudicial execution.”

A graphic video released by B’Tselem captured the moment the soldier stepped forward and shot al-Sharif in the head at point-blank range, after he had been gunned down and left lying on the ground severely wounded for several minutes.