GAZA CITY: Palestinian officials exhumed the body of a disabled Gazan man Sunday as part of efforts to prove Israeli forces shot him in the head during recent protests and clashes.

“Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh’s body was exhumed this morning for another autopsy to refute Israeli claims that come as an attempt to evade their responsibility for this crime,” Mohammad Al-Najjal, the deputy justice minister in the Gaza Strip, told reporters.

Najjal said the Palestinian authorities in Gaza decided that “in order to refute the occupation’s claims, the bullet in his head must be presented to international parties,” he added.

He said “the results of this autopsy will be presented to international parties including the ICC (International Criminal Court).”

It was unclear whether a full autopsy had been performed on Abu Thurayeh after his death on December 15 in the Palestinian enclave run by hardliner movement Hamas.

Israel’s military said earlier this month it was opening an investigation into the death of the 29-year-old who, according to his family, had lost his legs in a 2008 Israeli strike.

Palestinian officials say the wheelchair-bound man was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper during protests and clashes along the Gaza border on Dec.15.

The United Nations’ human rights chief said he was “truly shocked” by Abu Thurayeh’s death and demanded an “independent and impartial investigation.”

Israel’s announcement that it was opening a probe into his death came after the military previously said it was not able to determine whether he had been killed by its soldiers’ fire.

Meanwhile, a bomb blast wounded a member of the Palestinian group Hamas in the Lebanese city of Sidon on Sunday, destroying his car as he was about to get in.

The target, Mohamed Hamdan, was not a publicly known Hamas figure in Lebanon.

A statement from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, confirmed he was a member of the group, without detailing his role, and said “initial indications” suggested Israel was behind the bombing.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Al Manar television, run by the Lebanese political and military group Hizbollah, described Hamdan as an important figure in Hamas, adding that he appeared to have a security role and was being tracked by Israel.