Man Shot By IS Child Was No Spy, Say Family

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By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter

The family of a man apparently shot dead by a child in an Islamic State (IS) video believe he was killed because he wanted to leave the group.

Mohammed Musallam, 19, an Israeli Arab, was accused of being an Israeli spy by IS fighters.

He appeared in the 13-minute footage talking about being recruited and trained by the Mossad intelligence agency and is then shown being escorted to a field and shot in the head by a young boy.

However, his family say they believe he was recruited by underground IS operatives in Jerusalem.

His mother Hind told Sky News: "There are Islamic State figures here in Jerusalem, people should be careful with their kids, they are hidden, they are taking the boys."

She said her son had called home days before he was imprisoned, claiming he wanted to leave IS.

"He said they had promised to give him a house, marriage, and dollars. I said why would you do that to yourself?," she said.

"He said that he had been brainwashed, but that it was all lies - that they were cheating everyone."

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For the last 14 years the Musallam family have lived in the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood of Neve Yaakov, a settlement in East Jerusalem.

This has prompted some accusations on Arabic social media that the family were indeed "collaborators" with Israel.

However, Mohammed's father Said Musallam angrily dismissed such assertions, insisting the family moved from the nearby Arab neighbourhood of Beit Hanina for nothing more than cheaper rent prices.

He believes his son's death was nothing more than IS's punishment for their suspicions he intended to leave the group.

"It's all Islamic State fabrication, they are just trying to protect themselves - if Mohammed had come back he would tell people what they are really like," he said.

"I hope to God there will an Arab army that come together and fight Islamic State - I'd be the first one to join the fight against [Abu Bakr] al Baghdadi."

Posted online on Tuesday night, the video cannot be independently verified, but was apparently published by the IS media wing.

The child who carries out the killing is described as one of "the cubs of the Caliphate" by a French-speaking militant who appears alongside him in the video.

In the video, Musallam repeated comments made last month in an interview published by the militants' English language magazine, Dabiq.

He said he had joined IS to report to the Israelis on weapons caches, bases and Palestinian recruits.

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Musallam's family say he went missing in October.

After they reported his disappearance to Israeli police, they were told he had travelled to Turkey, and was believed to have crossed into Syria.

Israel has made no official comment on the accusations that Musallam was a spy, although an anonymous security official last month told Reuters news agency they were certain the teenager had travelled to join IS "on his own initiative".

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