[News] These are the Palestinian children Israel killed in 2017

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/these-are-palestinian-children-israel-killed-2017 



  These are the Palestinian children Israel killed in 2017

Maureen Clare Murphy 
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy> - 10 
January 2018

------------------------------------------------------------------------

These are the Palestinian children killed by Israel in 2017.

Fourteen Palestinian boys and girls under the age of 18 were shot dead 
by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 
year.

There were 21 fewer children killed than in 2016, which was the 
deadliest year for Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in the 
past decade 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/these-are-palestinian-children-killed-israel-2016>.

In addition to those 14 shot and killed during 2017, a child died of 
wounds sustained in an Israeli drone strike 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_drone_strike_survivor_in_gaza_dies_from_injuries_at_age_9> 
years earlier.

Another was killed by Israeli ordnance 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_child_killed_by_uxo_in_jordan_valley> 
while grazing livestock. A baby living in temporary shelter, his family 
homeless as a result of Israeli bombing, died of cold exposure 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/two_and_a_half_years_on_the_gaza_war_claims_another_child_victim>.

Palestinian children also died because they were unable to secure 
permits 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/my-child-died-my-eyes/21236> to 
leave via the Israeli-controlled Erez checkpoint for medical treatment 
unavailable in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Emergency room doctors were unable to resuscitate a seriously ill 
9-year-old girl in the West Bank after Israeli soldiers denied her 
family passage 
<http://www.alhaq.org/documentation/weekly-focuses/1167-palestinian-children-relentlessly-targeted-by-israels-occupation> 
at a checkpoint; a trip that normally would take 15 minutes took her 
family 90 minutes after they were forced to detour and go through a 
different checkpoint.

No Israeli children were killed by Palestinians during the year. An 
Israeli woman wounded during a bus stop bombing in 2011, when she was 
14, and who had never regained consciousness, died of her injures 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.824305> in 2017.


    Qusay al-Amour, 17

Qusay al-Amour (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/video_shows_immediate_aftermath_of_palestinian_teen_shot_dead>)

Qusay al-Amour was shot by soldiers during confrontations between 
Israeli forces and Palestinian youths in the town of Tuqu, near the West 
Bank city of Bethlehem, on 16 January.

An eyewitness told the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq 
<http://www.alhaq.org/documentation/weekly-focuses/1098-qusay-al-amour-17-killed-by-iof> 
that Qusay, who was wearing a mask, was sitting on the ground. When he 
stood up, he was shot.

The moments after his shooting were recorded on video 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvztlxtsfXQ> by journalist Hisham Abu 
Shakra.

The video shows soldiers firing at a Palestinian who had attempted to 
come to the aid of Qusay, lying motionless on the ground, before several 
soldiers run towards and grab the injured youth.

“One of the soldiers placed his knee on Qusay’s throat, while trying to 
handcuff him but failed to turn Qusay’s left hand behind his body,” 
according to Al-Haq.

The soldiers then took Qusay by his hands and feet, while his 
unsupported head repeatedly hit the ground as they carried him to an 
army jeep at a distance of dozens of meters away from where he was shot.

A doctor at Beit Jala hospital announced that Qusay was killed after 
being shot by three bullets in the thigh, stomach and chest.

“Qusay did not pose an imminent threat to the lives of soldiers and as 
such was unlawfully killed,” Al-Haq stated.


    Murad Yousif Abu Ghazi, 17

Murad Abu Ghazi (DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_killed_two_palestinian_teens_in_last_week>)

Murad Yousif Abu Ghazi was shot by Israeli forces during confrontations 
in Arroub refugee camp 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/arroub-refugee-camp>, in the 
southern West Bank, on 17 March.

Israeli soldiers fired live bullets at a group of teenagers who they 
alleged had thrown molotov cocktails at the military tower outside the camp.

“According to a preliminary inspection by the coroner, carried out under 
the observation of the public prosecutor, Murad was struck by a live 
bullet that entered the bottom left side of his shoulder,” according to 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_killed_two_palestinian_teens_in_last_week> 
Defense for Children International-Palestine.

‘The bullet directly hit his heart before exiting out of his chest. This 
resulted in Murad’s death, likely within minutes of the injury, 
according to the coroner.”

Another youth, Saif Awlad Issa, 16, was injured by a live bullet to his 
chest but survived.

“Military fixtures like checkpoints and watchtowers in the West Bank and 
the heavily surveilled ‘buffer zone’ along the border of Gaza are sites 
of frequent clashes, representing significant risks of death, injury, 
and arrest to children who live or pass near them frequently,” Defense 
for Children International-Palestine stated after Murad’s slaying.

Murad had lost his close friend and classmate, Omar Madi Jawabreh 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=770224>, the year before when 
the 15-year-old was shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers.

“Omar’s martyrdom affected Murad deeply, it changed him,” Murad’s 
mother, Zeina, told The Electronic Intifada 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-teen-sacrificed-his-life-defend-camp/20181>. 
“He visited Omar’s grave every day and wore his necklace. He kept Omar’s 
picture in his pocket and always visited his mother and was like a son 
to her.”

Murad’s family originally hails from Beit Jibrin, a Palestinian town 
ethnically cleansed by Zionist militias in 1948, located in what is 
today called Israel.

Arroub is one of the most frequently raided camps in the West Bank, 
according to <https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/west-bank/arroub-camp> 
UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees.

The whole camp participated in Murad’s funeral, his friend Ahmad told 
The Electronic Intifada.

“Men, women and children. Everyone here loved Murad. My head will always 
be held high because he was my friend.”


    Yousif Shaaban Abu Athra, 15

Yousif Abu Athra (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_killed_two_palestinian_teens_in_last_week>)

Yousif Abu Athra was killed by Israeli tank shelling when he and two 
adult friends approached the fence along Gaza’s boundary with Israel 
late at night on 21 March.

An Israeli army spokesperson told media 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.778766> that the three were 
behaving in a suspicious manner, as though they were attempting to plant 
an explosive device, without giving further details.

The teen’s father told Defense for Children International-Palestine 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_killed_two_palestinian_teens_in_last_week> 
that “his son’s body was riddled with shrapnel, including injuries to 
his head.”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society told the rights group that Yousif was 
already dead by the time emergency medics reached him.

Muhammad Waheed Atallah al-Ekir, 25, was seriously injured 
<http://mezan.org/en/post/21881/Israeli+Forces+Kill+a+Child+and+Injure+Another> 
with shrapnel wounds in his chest and abdomen during the same incident.

The military frequently fires 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/life-lived-edge-along-gazas-boundary/18516> 
on Palestinians who enter the so-called buffer zone 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/gaza-buffer-zone> along Gaza’s 
boundary with Israel.

The no-go area is understood to extend some 300 meters into Gaza’s 
eastern and northern territory, but Palestinian human rights groups say 
that the zones can go as deep as 1,500 meters.


    Muhammad Khatab, 17 and Jassim Nakhla, 16

Muhamad Khattab (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_killed_a_child_and_injured_three_near_settlement>)

Muhmmad Khattab was killed 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_killed_a_child_and_injured_three_near_settlement> 
when Israeli forces fired on the car he was driving near the Beit El 
settlement <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/beit-el> north of the 
West Bank city of Ramallah on 23 March.

Three other children were wounded and left comatose during the incident. 
One of them, Jassim Nakhla, died of his wounds on 10 April, just two 
days after his 16th birthday, according to 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/child_injured_by_israeli_soldiers_dies_from_gunshot_wounds> 
Defense for Children International-Palestine.

An Israeli army spokesperson told media 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.779235> that the youths had 
thrown firebombs towards a food stand near the settlement adjacent to 
Jalazone refugee camp 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/jalazone-refugee-camp>, where the 
boys were from.

A witness told the rights group that soldiers shot at Muhammad when he 
got out of his stalled car in order to push it.

When the soldiers began shooting, “Muhammad jumped back into the car to 
try to escape, but the car did not start, according to DCIP’s source. 
The witness said Israeli soldiers then approached the car and opened 
fire on all four children … while inside the car.”

Muhammad, shot twice in the torso, was declared dead upon arrival to a 
hospital.

Jassim Nakhla (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/child_injured_by_israeli_soldiers_dies_from_gunshot_wounds>)

The director of the emergency department at the Palestine Medical 
Complex told Defense for Children International-Palestine that Jassim 
“sustained live ammunition injuries to his head, chest, right thigh and 
right foot.”

The shooting of the teens pierced the bubble in nearby Ramallah, the 
seat of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, according to 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/ramallah-bubble-pierced-israeli-bullets> 
The Electronic Intifada contributor Jalal Abukhater.

“Angry protesters took to the streets of Ramallah 
<https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=776090> after Muhammad’s 
death, chanting and screaming, expecting someone to listen,” he wrote at 
the time.

“Various groups of youths went around the city and asked the bustling 
restaurants and cafes of Ramallah to close in mourning.”

Defense for Children International-Palestine called for an investigation 
into the fatal shooting.

But as Abukhater stated, the suffering of grieving families “is 
compounded by the knowledge that justice will never be served as long as 
the Israeli occupation continues to exist.”

Defense for Children International-Palestine told The Electronic 
Intifada that one of the two surviving boys is now paralyzed in his 
lower body and uses a wheelchair. He is receiving therapy at a hospital 
in Israel and learning how to live with his injuries.

The other child cannot balance properly while standing and is unable to 
use his left hand because of nerve damage due to his injuries. He goes 
to therapy sessions at a rehabilitation center in Ramallah.


    Ahmad Ghazal, 17

The killing of Ahmad Ghazal on 1 April by Israeli Border Police may 
amount to an extrajudicial killing, according to 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/early_reports_suggest_israeli_forces_unlawfully_killed_teen> 
Defense for Children International-Palestine.

Ahmad, from the northern West Bank, had stabbed and wounded two Jewish 
men in Jerusalem’s Old City, causing them minor injuries. After fleeing 
into a nearby building, he was pursued by Israeli forces who opened fire 
on the teen.

Video from the scene 
<https://twitter.com/qudsn/status/848156788365176834> shows Border 
Police forces running down an alley in the Old City, past a man with 
blood on the back of his shirt, before more than a dozen gunshots are heard.

Another video <https://twitter.com/qudsn/status/848188769303920640> 
appears to show several bullet holes in the walls where Ahmad was killed.

“Israeli forces prevented ambulances and medical personnel from entering 
the building for several hours, the witness said,” Defense for Children 
International-Palestine added. “After this period, the witness saw 
Border Police drag the teen’s body out of the building and place it in a 
black bag.”

Ahmad had posted a photo of himself standing in front of Jerusalem’s 
Dome of the Rock shortly before he was killed:

    الشهيد أحمد غزال يأخذ صورة "سيلفي"مع قبة الصخرة قبل تنفيذه عملية
    الطعن في شارع الواد بالبلدة القديمة، عصر اليوم.
    pic.twitter.com/PI7LFJtMso <https://t.co/PI7LFJtMso>

    — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) April 1, 2017
    <https://twitter.com/qudsn/status/848196752872275970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>


    Fatima Hjeiji, 16

Fatima Hjeiji (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_girl_s_death_warrants_impartial_investigation>)

Fatima Hjeiji, from the central West Bank town of Qarawat Bani Zeid, was 
shot by Israeli Border Police 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_girl_s_death_warrants_impartial_investigation> 
near the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem on 7 May.

Israeli police claimed the girl was attempting an attack on Border 
Police when she was shot.

Rights groups state that Fatima did not pose a danger warranting the use 
of lethal force against her.

According to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem 
<http://www.btselem.org/firearms/20170510_killing_of_fatimah_hjeiji>, 
Fatima approached a metal police barricade and brandished a knife at a 
group of Israeli police and paramilitary Border Police on the other side 
of the barricade.

“The officers then fatally shot her,” B’Tselem stated.

A witness told Defense for Children International-Palestine that the 
Israeli forces shouted “Drop the knife!” at her in Hebrew twice.

“The witness reported that the teenage girl then lifted the knife in the 
air and froze. Seconds later, she was gunned down, according to DCIP’s 
source.”

The rights group stated that the girl was killed in “circumstances 
warranting an impartial investigation.”


    Fatima Taqatqa, 15

Fatima Taqatqa

Fatima Taqatqa, from the town of Beit Fajjar near the West Bank city of 
Bethlehem, was shot by Israeli forces after she drove a car into a group 
of soldiers at the Gush Etzion 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/gush-etzion-junction> junction near 
the settlement bloc of the same name on 15 March.

Israel alleges that Taqatqa was waging a car ramming attack when she was 
shot. No Israelis were injured in the incident.

Fatima succumbed to her wounds 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777188> more than two months later.

Security camera footage <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XROMJxkWCNQ> 
shows Taqatqa’s car driving at a high speed over a median and crashing 
into a barricade, behind which the soldiers were standing.

More than a dozen Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed at 
the Gush Etzion junction since October 2015, according to the Ma’an News 
Agency.


    Raed Ahmad Radayda, 15

Raed Radaya (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_shoot_dead_2nd_palestinian_child_in_month>)

Raed Ahmad Radayda died after Israeli soldiers shot him when he 
allegedly attempted to stab one of them at the Container checkpoint near 
the teen’s hometown of al-Ubeidiya in the Bethlehem area of the West 
Bank on 22 May.

Raed was left bleeding for approximately 40 minutes, media reported, as 
soldiers prevented Palestinian medics from accessing the boy.

Raed’s father told Defense for Children International-Palestine that “he 
was not notified that his son had been killed until he called 
Palestinian police nearly seven hours after the 15-year-old’s death.”

The boy’s body was withheld by Israel until 26 May. An autopsy was 
performed the following day.

“Although the full autopsy has yet to be released to DCIP, the family 
reported apparent wounds to Raed’s head, chest and feet,” the group 
stated 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_shoot_dead_2nd_palestinian_child_in_month> 
soon after Raed’s death.

An Israeli police spokesperson told media 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=777229> that Raed had 
approached the soldiers while holding a knife, and “after a short 
dispute, an Israeli soldier was able to open fire at the suspect who was 
neutralized and the knife in his possession was seized.”

No Israeli forces were injured.


    Nouf Infayat, 14

Nouf Infayat (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_girl_dies_after_being_shot_and_left_to_bleed>)

Nouf Infayat was shot and critically wounded after she allegedly stabbed 
and lightly injured an Israeli soldier outside the Mevo Dotan settlement 
in the northern West Bank on 1 June. She died of her injuries the 
following day.

Video from the scene 
<https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/870268026326622208?lang=en> shows 
Nouf lying on the ground and moaning in pain while Israelis, at least 
one of them armed, stand around her, cursing her and calling for her death.

Defense for Children International-Palestine stated 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_girl_dies_after_being_shot_and_left_to_bleed> 
that Nouf, from the village of Yabad, was shot six times in the neck, 
hand and thigh.

“Local news outlets reported that Nouf was left bleeding on the pavement 
for nearly an hour before an ambulance arrived,” the group added.

“We are deeply concerned by video footage from this incident that 
suggests a significant delay in urgent medical care for the injured 
child,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, a director at Defense for Children 
International-Palestine, stated.

Israeli forces have failed to provide medical treatment or prevented 
Palestinian medics from accessing seriously wounded persons in many such 
cases in which soldiers have shot alleged or actual attackers.

Amnesty International has stated 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/year-atrocities-palestine> 
that failure to provide first aid to the wounded “violates the 
prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”


    Aws Muhammad Yousif Salameh, 16

Aws Salameh (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_palestinian_teen_during_night_raid>)

Aws Salameh was shot in the stomach when Israeli soldiers ambushed 
stone-throwing youths 
<https://www.btselem.org/20170712_two_killed_by_gunfire_in_jenin_rc> 
during a raid on Jenin refugee camp 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/jenin-refugee-camp> in the early 
hours of 12 July. An adult resident of the camp, Saed Salah, 21, was 
also killed.

Saed and a group of 40 to 50 youths were chasing two military jeeps when 
the vehicles suddenly braked.

Saed, who was riding a motorcycle, stopped too.

“I think the sudden braking caught Saed by surprise … and he tried to 
stop. At that moment, I saw one of the soldiers shoot him,” a 
19-year-old youth told B’Tselem.

“Then the soldiers fired in the direction of Aws Salameh, who was up 
front among the guys chasing the jeeps. I saw him fall over,” the 
witness added.

Another witness told B’Tselem that the army jeeps braked near a home 
where soldiers had occupied the rooftop. The 16-year-old witness said 
that he saw soldiers on the rooftop fire at Saed and Aws.

B’Tselem stated that “After [Saed] Salah was shot, soldiers stood around 
him for at least 10 minutes without giving him medical aid.”

The rights group said that Saed and Aws “did not pose a threat to the 
soldiers’ lives” when lethal force was used against them.

It is hardly the first time that deadly fire was used during a raid 
without justification.

“The fact that no one was held accountable in previous instances, 
including the commanders who ordered the ambush, is what allows the 
implementation of this unlawful policy to continue,” according to B’Tselem.

Aws’ father told Defense for Children International-Palestine 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_palestinian_teen_during_night_raid> 
that his son was hit by an expanding “dum-dum” bullet that “ripped 
through his liver, lungs and spleen.”

The rights group stated that “the use of expanding and exploding bullets 
is a violation 
<https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule77> of 
international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime under the Rome 
Statute of the International Criminal Court.”


    Muhammad Khalaf Mahmoud Khalaf Lafi, 17

Muhammad Khalaf Mahmoud Khalaf Lafi (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_17_year_old_amid_clashes_over_access_to_holy_site>)

Muhammad Lafi was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest during 
confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers near 
a military base in the West Bank town of Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, on 21 
July.

Hours before Muhammad was shot, Muhammad Mahmoud Sharaf was killed 
during confrontations in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood of East 
Jerusalem. Muhammad Sharaf died just a week after his 18th birthday, 
according to 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_17_year_old_amid_clashes_over_access_to_holy_site> 
Defense for Children International-Palestine.

A 20-year-old youth, Muhammad Abu Ghanam, was also fatally wounded 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/six-killed-netanyahu-throws-match-jerusalem-powder-keg> 
by Israeli forces in Jerusalem that same day.

The three youths were killed as thousands of Palestinians protested 
across the West Bank and Gaza Strip over new Israeli measures infringing 
on Palestinian worship at al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem.

Three Israelis were fatally stabbed by a Palestinian in a West Bank 
settlement later that same night.


    Abd al-Rahman Abu Hamisa, 16

Abd al-Rahman Abu Hamisa (via DCIP 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_soldiers_shot_dead_16_year_old_palestinian_near_gaza_border>)

Abd al-Rahman Abu Hamisa became the sixth Palestinian to be killed 
during protests over Israel’s closure of the al-Aqsa mosque 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/video-israel-attacks-jerusalem-worshippers> 
on 28 July.

The teen was shot by a soldier in the central Gaza Strip as youth 
confronted occupation forces along the boundary with Israel.

Defense for Children International-Palestine stated 
<http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_soldiers_shot_dead_16_year_old_palestinian_near_gaza_border> 
that Abu Hamisa was tens of meters away from Israeli forces stationed on 
the Israeli side of the boundary fence when he was shot in the left 
shoulder.

Soldiers fired live ammunition at several youths who attempted to reach 
the teen after he was shot.

One of those wounded, Muamin Khalidi, 23, said that he was among those 
who had come to Abd al-Rahman’s aid.

“I grabbed Abd al-Rahman by the legs and started dragging him away when 
the soldiers fired a bullet that hit me in the right thigh,” he told 
B’Tselem.

“I let go of his legs, staggered a few meters and fell over,” he added.

Abd al-Rahman and another protester who had been shot, Ismail Jaber, 
were lying next to Muamin.

“Ismail tried to get up and then the soldiers shot another bullet at 
him, and he fell back down,” Muamin told B’Tselem.

An Israeli army spokesperson claimed 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=778412> that its forces had 
fired at Palestinians who were burning tires, throwing stones towards 
soldiers and damaging the boundary fence.

Israeli forces are typically separated from Palestinians inside Gaza by 
fences and a large distance and are often in fortified positions, making 
it unlikely that protesting Palestinians could present a credible danger.

B’Tselem stated 
<https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20170728_killing_of_abd_a_rahman_abu_hamisah> 
that in October 2015, Abd al-Rahman was arrested along with five other 
youths when he crossed into Israel after a demonstration.

“At the time of the arrest and over the following three days, soldiers 
abused the six detainees, holding them shackled outside for the 
duration, beating them repeatedly, depriving them of sleep and even 
burning the hands and feet of one of the minors with cigarettes,” 
according to B’Tselem.

Abd al-Rahman testified to B’Tselem 
<https://www.btselem.org/beating_and_abuse/20160508_soldiers_abuse_gazan_detainees> 
that during his three days of detention at a military base, “We were so 
battered that our entire bodies ached.”

The boy was found guilty of entering Israel illegally and sentenced to 
four months in prison. His family were not allowed to visit him during 
his imprisonment.

Abd al-Rahman’s mother told B’Tselem that “The time in Israeli prison 
affected him very badly.” He finished the ninth grade of school but 
didn’t want to continue to the 10th grade.

“He was on edge all the time, would start yelling sometimes, and didn’t 
want to talk to anyone,” his mother said.

B’Tselem stated that the slaying of Abd al-Rahman and several other 
protesters along the Gaza boundary since October 2015 “makes it clear 
that the Israeli military has adopted an unlawful policy of shooting at 
non-dangerous Palestinian demonstrators.”

The group added: “Far from deny[ing] it, the military describes this 
reality in media announcements as ‘firing at key inciters’ and taking 
action ‘to prevent damage to the fence.’”


    Qutaiba Ziad Zahran, 16

Qutaiba Ziad Zahran (via Al-Haq 
<http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/topics/right-to-life-and-body-integrity/1137-the-aftermath-of-an-attack-israels-arbitrary-and-collective-punishment-measures>)

Qutaiba Ziad Zahran was shot after carrying out a stabbing attack on an 
Israeli soldier at the Zaatara military checkpoint in the northern West 
Bank on 19 August.

Soldiers continued to shoot at the boy after he fell to the ground.

An eyewitness told 
<http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/topics/right-to-life-and-body-integrity/1137-the-aftermath-of-an-attack-israels-arbitrary-and-collective-punishment-measures> 
the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq that “I heard at least five bullet 
sounds when [Qutaiba] was already down.”

The teen died immediately, according to Al-Haq.

Qutaiba’s father, who said that the boy was the youngest of eight 
children, learned of his son’s slaying from Facebook and local media.

“I received no official communication from any entity of the Palestinian 
Authority notifying me of my son’s killing,” Qutaiba’s father testified 
to Al-Haq. “The [Israeli occupation forces] withheld my son’s body; I 
did not know where it was being kept or when it would be handed over to 
me for burial in our hometown of Allar.”

The day after Qutaiba was killed, dozens of Israeli soldiers raided his 
family’s home. They searched the house and interrogated Qutaiba’s 
parents and siblings. Qutaiba’s 30-year-old brother Tareq was arrested.

The grieving family were not be able to bury Qutaiba until 9 September 
<http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779030>.

Al-Haq stated that “The aftermath of Qutaiba’s killing, including the 
raiding of the family home, interrogation of family members, and the 
holding of Qutaiba’s body, all fall within Israel’s broad policies and 
practices of harassment and collective punishment.”

/An earlier version of this story included mention of a baby who died 
months after suffering excessive tear gas inhalation, as the Palestinian 
Authority health ministry announced at the time. The child’s death has 
been omitted from this story after Defense for Children 
International-Palestine informed The Electronic Intifada that the group 
had thoroughly investigated the baby’s case and had found that tear gas 
inhalation was not a primary factor in his death./


-- 
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