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<div id="reader-header" class="header" style="display: block;"> <font
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href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/2016-deadliest-year-west-bank-children-decade-170103145022165.html">http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/2016-deadliest-year-west-bank-children-decade-170103145022165.html</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">2016 'deadliest year' for West Bank
children in decade</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">January 5, 2017<br>
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<p>Israeli forces have killed more Palestinian children in
the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in
2016 than any other year in the last decade, rights
group Defence for Children International (DCI) has said.</p>
<p>The organisation's chapter in the occupied Palestinian
territories recorded the killings of 32 Palestinian
children (under 18), making 2016 "the deadliest year of
the past decade" for them, the group said in a recent <a
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/children_in_west_bank_face_deadliest_year_of_past_decade"
target="_blank">report.</a></p>
<p>Many of those killings happened during Israeli military
raids on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank,
confrontations with the Israeli army or during unarmed
protests.</p>
<p>"Israeli soldiers employ a shoot-to-kill policy. They
have the green light to kill Palestinians, and the fact
that they can do so with impunity and no consequences
builds the foundation for such shootings to take place,"
Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Programme Director at
DCI-Palestine, told Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Since October 2015, Israeli soldiers and settlers have
been responsible for the killing of at least 244
Palestinians, including unarmed demonstrators,
bystanders and alleged attackers in what has been termed
the "Jerusalem intifada" or Jerusalem uprising.</p>
<p>Thirty-six Israelis have also been killed in stabbing
and shooting incidents carried out by Palestinians.</p>
<p>"Due to the political situation, especially the
Jerusalem uprising since October 2015, the numbers have
gone up with tension and clashes between the Israeli
army and Palestinians increasing," said Abu Eqtaish.</p>
<p>Out of the 32, 19 were between the ages of 16 and 17,
while 13 were in the age group of 13 to 15 years old, <a
href="http://arabic.dci-palestine.org/content/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B7%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%A1"
target="_blank">according to</a> DCI-Palestine.</p>
<p>In 2015, the total number of civilians <span>under the
age of 18</span> killed in the occupied West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, stood at 28. In 2014, 13
Palestinian children were killed, while four were killed
in 2013. <br>
</p>
<p>"It is very rare that any investigations are opened on
the killings. There has only been one incident in 2014 -
that of Nadim Nuwara - in which a soldier was charged,"
said Abu Eqtaish.</p>
<p>On May 15, 2014, <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaibEqx2m_k"
target="_blank">video footage</a> showed Israeli
forces firing live bullets at two unarmed Palestinian
boys, Nadim Nuwara, 17 and Mahmoud Abu Thaher, 16, who
were attending a protest outside Israel's Ofer prison,
killing them.</p>
<p>The Israeli was charged with manslaughter, but his
lawyers recently told Israeli media the charges may be
dropped.</p>
<p>Fifteen-year-old Faris al-Bayed from the Jalazone
refugee camp north of Ramallah in the West Bank was
another victim of Israeli army aggression. Al-Bayed was
killed on October 15 last year when Israeli soldiers
shot a rubber-coated metal bullet at his head, which
eventually resulted in his death.</p>
<p>Regulations for the use of rubber-coated metal bullets,
also known as "rubber bullets", <a
href="http://www.btselem.org/firearms/rubber_coated_bullets"
target="_blank">stipulate</a> that the projectiles are
meant for dispersing crowds, must be fired from at least
40 metres away at the lower body, and not at children.</p>
<p>Al-Bayed was attending a march near the camp to
commemorate the killing of 14-year-old Ahmad Sharaka
when he was shot. He remained in intensive care for 67
days in a coma before he passed away.</p>
<p>"You cannot imagine the pain that his mother
experienced," al-Bayed's uncle, Abu Mohammad, told Al
Jazeera.</p>
<p>Abu Mohammad believes the upcoming generations are now
more aware than their parents and are thus being
increasingly targeted by Israeli forces.</p>
<p>"There are killings, raids and detentions every day. It
never used to be like this. With the coming of the
internet and more awareness, the children are becoming
more nationalistic and are aware of what is happening,"
said Abu Mohammad.</p>
<p>West Bank-based activist Hazem Abu Helal, says the
killings are "part of Israel's policy". </p>
<p>"This is the state's racist culture that tells the
Israeli army it is ok to kill Palestinians because
they're getting rid of 'terrorists' whether it be a man,
woman, or child," Abu Helal told Al Jazeera from his
Ramallah home.</p>
<p>According to a <a
href="http://www.peaceindex.org/files/Peace_Index_Data_August_2016-Eng.pdf"
target="_blank">poll</a> conducted by the Israel
Democracy Institute in August, about 47 percent of
Jewish Israelis said they supported the killing of
Palestinians who carry out an attack on Israelis, even
if he or she had been captured and no longer posed a
threat.</p>
<p>A group of human rights NGOs including Amnesty
International <a
href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/02/israel/palestine-some-officials-backing-shoot-kill"
target="_blank">found</a> that in at least 150 of the
cases since October 2015, Israeli forces "killed
Palestinians after they no longer posed a threat, killed
Palestinians who did not appear to be carrying out an
attack at all, or used lethal force to subdue attackers
when non-lethal force would have sufficed".</p>
<p>Rights organisations have repeatedly <a
href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/MDE15/002/2014/en/"
target="_blank">condemned</a> such killings, which
they describe as an "excessive use of force" whereby
Israeli forces violate international human rights law. </p>
<p>"We know that even if we tried to get the soldier to
court, nothing will happen to him. What's the point?
There have been thousands of Palestinians killed over
the years, and no soldier has been punished," said Abu
Mohammad.</p>
<p><span>Source:</span> <span>Al Jazeera News</span></p>
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