[News] Israeli Forces are Killing Palestinian Children at Record Rates

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://imemc.org/article/israeli-forces-are-killing-palestinian-children-at-record-rates/ 



  Israeli Forces are Killing Palestinian Children at Record Rates

August 8, 2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------

/On August 5, Ahmad al-Aydi died in central Gaza from an injury 
sustained on March 30 from Israeli live fire. (Photo: Courtesy of 
al-Aydi family.)/

Four Palestinian children died from gunshot wounds between July 27 and 
August 5 after Israeli forces shot them during “March of Return” 
protests in the the Gaza Strip. These deaths put 2018 at a record-high 
for child fatalities, exceeding the number of Palestinian children 
killed by Israeli forces in any single year within the past decade, 
outside of large-scale Israeli military offensives.

Israel forces fatally shot three children, Muath Ziad Ibrahim al-Soury, 
15, Moemen Fathi Yousef al-Hams, 16, and Majdi Ramzi Kamal al-Satri, 11, 
with live ammunition during the last two consecutive Fridays of “March 
of Return” protests. A fourth child, Ahmad Jihad Ahmad al-Aydi, 17, who 
was struck by Israeli live fire on March 30, died on August 5.

“Israeli forces have operated with near complete impunity for so long 
that unlawful killings and other flagrant violations of international 
law have become the norm,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountablity Program 
director at Defense for Children International – Palestine. “Impunity 
combined with the rise in Israel’s use of live ammunition as a method of 
quelling demonstrators since 2014 means there is no legal mechanism that 
will halt this bloodshed.”

Ahmad died in the intensive care unit of Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 
August 5, succumbing to a previous gunshot wound. On the first day of 
“March of Return” marches, Israeli forces shot Ahmad in the back of his 
head with live ammunition east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central 
part of the Gaza Strip, severely injuring him.

He was treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital for 8 days, then transferred 
to Shifa hospital. The boy was able to secure a Palestinian referral and 
was treated in the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation in the West 
Bank city of Beit Jala, before returning to the Gaza Strip. He died in 
Shifa hospital around 8 p.m on Sunday.

Israeli forces shot Muath with live ammunition around 7 p.m. on August 
3. Muath was participating in “March of Return” protests near the 
perimeter fence, east of Al-Bureij refugee camp, according to DCIP 
sources. The bullet entered his abdomen, damaging major blood vessels 
and his intestines. He was transported to Al-Aqsa Martrys hospital and 
died at approximately 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, August 4.

Moemen and 11-year-old Majdi were both shot when Israeli forces opened 
fire on a group of protestors who were cutting and attempting to cross 
the Gaza Strip perimeter fence near Rafah, southern Gaza around 5:30 
p.m. on Friday, July 27, according to initial reports.

After Moemen had cut the fence and began entering through it, a witness 
saw Moemen collapse. He was transferred to the European hospital in 
critical condition and underwent several operations before he was 
pronounced dead around 4:30 a.m. on July 28. According to the medical 
examiner who examined the boy’s body, a bullet entered Moemen’s back 
near his spine and exited from the right side of his chest.

Majdi was standing nearby, around 50 meters (164 feet) from the 
perimeter fence when Israeli forces opened fire, according to an 
eyewitness. The bullet struck his forehead, killing him instantly.

Including these four most recent fatalities, Israeli forces have killed 
at least 35 Palestinian children since the start of 2018. The parents of 
an additional child who was shot by Israeli forces on April 29, Yousef 
Abu Jazar 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_10_palestinian_children_in_four_weeks>, 
are still waiting for official confirmation of their child’s death. A 
Palestinian teen was also killed by an Israeli settler 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_teen_killed_during_attack_in_israeli_settlement> after 
local media reported the child carried out a fatal stabbing attack in an 
Israeli settlement in the West Bank on July 26.

In 2017, 15 Palestinian children 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/year_in_review_worst_abuses_against_palestinian_children_in_2017> died 
as the result of Israeli forces’ actions. This number included one child 
who had been injured in a 2014 Israeli drone strike, succumbing to his 
wounds in 2017. The previous year DCIP documented as the “deadliest year 
of a decade” 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/children_in_west_bank_face_deadliest_year_of_past_decade> for 
West Bank children. Israeli forces and security guards killed 32 
Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem 
in 2016.

The majority of child fatalities this year have taken place in the 
context of protests along the Gaza Strip perimeter fence. DCIP evidence 
has determined on multiple occasions that children killed along the Gaza 
Strip perimeter did not pose a direct, mortal threat at the time of 
their death.

According to international law, lethal force may only be used when a 
direct and mortal threat to life or of serious injury exists.

The Israeli Supreme Court 
<https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9522> has maintained that 
Israeli military forces’ rules of engagement are in line with 
international parameters in the context of “March of Return” protests.

In April, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
stated 
<https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22925&LangID=E> that 
an attempt to approach or cross the Gaza Strip perimeter fence alone 
“does not amount to a threat to life or serious injury that would 
justify the use of live ammunition.”

Five children this year have also been killed by Israeli forces in the 
West Bank, including 14-year-old Arkan Mizher 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_14_year_old_in_bethlehem_area_refugee_camp> whom 
Israeli forces shot during an arrest raid in Dheisheh refugee camp on 
July 23.

/Originally published on August 6th, 2018, by Defense for Children 
International – Palestine (DCIP). <http://www.dci-palestine.org/>/

/*Human Interest 07/28/18 Shokeh Enters 55th Day of Hunger Strike 
<http://imemc.org/article/shokeh-enters-55th-day-of-hunger-strike/>*/

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