The family of the boy, Hussam Abdo, said he was mentally slow. "He doesn't know anything," his brother, Hosni, said.
Soldiers at the checkpoint said they had received intelligence that there was an imminent attack planned there, shut down the crossing and began searching people there.
Suddenly the boy, wearing an oversized red jersey, approached them in a suspicious way, said Lieutenant Tamir Milrad, an officer at the checkpoint.
They ordered him to take off his jersey, revealing a large gray bomb vest underneath. "He told us he didn't want to die. He didn't want to blow up," Milrad said.
The soldiers then sent a small yellow robot to hand scissors to the boy so he could cut off the vest. He cut off part of it and struggled with the rest. "I don't how to get this off," Abdo called to the soldiers.
