OCCUPIED JERUSALEM,  The Israeli war ministry has refused to pay the cost of medical treatment for an American-Jewish activist who lost an eye when border police officers fired a tear gas canister at her during a demonstration.

Emily Henochowicz, who also holds Israeli citizenship, took part in a protest on May 31, shortly after Israel killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

The Henochowicz family said that a policeman shot a canister directly at her face, shattering her jaw and causing her to lose her left eye.

Following her treatment at Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, Henochowicz's father, who had traveled from the U.S., was handed a bill for almost 3,500 dollars. Under advice from his lawyer, he asked the ministry to cover the expense, but officials refused.

In justifying the refusal, the ministry claimed the tear gas was not fired directly at Henochowicz.

"The canister ricocheted at her after it rebound off a concrete barrier and changed direction - it was not shot directly at her," the ministry said in a statement, which was contested by Haaretz as one of its reporters was a witness to the incident.

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