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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="http://imemc.org/article/israeli-forces-are-killing-palestinian-children-at-record-rates/">http://imemc.org/article/israeli-forces-are-killing-palestinian-children-at-record-rates/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Israeli Forces are Killing Palestinian
Children at Record Rates<br>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time"><span>August 8, 2018</span></div>
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<p><em>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.)</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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, <a
title="DCIP - Israeli forces kill 10 Palestinian
children in four weeks"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_10_palestinian_children_in_four_weeks"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yousef Abu Jazar</a>,
are still waiting for official confirmation of their
child’s death. A Palestinian teen was also killed by an <a
title="DCIP - Palestinian teen killed during attack in
Israeli settlement"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_teen_killed_during_attack_in_israeli_settlement"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israeli settler</a> after
local media reported the child carried out a fatal
stabbing attack in an Israeli settlement in the West
Bank on July 26.</p>
<p>In 2017, <a title="DCIP - YEAR-IN-REVIEW: WORST ABUSES
AGAINST PALESTINIAN CHILDREN IN 2017"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/year_in_review_worst_abuses_against_palestinian_children_in_2017"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">15 Palestinian children</a> 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 <a title="DCIP
- Children in West Bank face deadliest year of past
decade"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/children_in_west_bank_face_deadliest_year_of_past_decade"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">“deadliest year of a
decade”</a> for West Bank children. Israeli forces and
security guards killed 32 Palestinian children in the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem in 2016.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>According to international law, lethal force may only
be used when a direct and mortal threat to life or of
serious injury exists.</p>
<p>The <a title="Adalah - Israeli Supreme Court gives
green light to continued use of live fire, snipers
against Gaza protesters"
href="https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9522"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israeli Supreme Court</a> has
maintained that Israeli military forces’ rules of
engagement are in line with international parameters in
the context of “March of Return” protests.</p>
<p>In April, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights <a title="OHCHR - Press briefing note
on Gaza and Guatemala"
href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22925&LangID=E"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> 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.”</p>
<p>Five children this year have also been killed by
Israeli forces in the West Bank, including 14-year-old <a
title="DCIP - Israeli forces kill 14-year-old in
Bethlehem-area refugee camp"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_kill_14_year_old_in_bethlehem_area_refugee_camp"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arkan Mizher</a> whom
Israeli forces shot during an arrest raid in Dheisheh
refugee camp on July 23.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Originally published
on August 6th, 2018, by Defense for Children
International – Palestine (DCIP).</a></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Human Interest 07/28/18 <a
href="http://imemc.org/article/shokeh-enters-55th-day-of-hunger-strike/"
target="_blank" rel="bookmark noopener">Shokeh
Enters 55th Day of Hunger Strike</a></strong></em></p>
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