Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCI-P) stated on Monday that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continue their policy of torture, unlawful and extrajudicial killings against Palestinian children as long as impunity is the rule and as long as the international community is silent about their crimes.

The DCI-P reported in a press release, that IOF had killed 7 Palestinian children since the beginning of this year 2020 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The last of whom was Amer Abdel Rahim Sanouber, 16 years, from Yatma village, south of Nablus. Sanouber was killed on the night of October 24, from a severe beating inflicted by the IOF soldiers (Al-Yasam).

Sanouber was trying to help a 17-year-old friend, whose vehicle had broken down near Turmus Aya town, northeast of Ramallah, according to the movement.

It emphasized that under international law, deliberate lethal force is justified only in circumstances where there is an immediate threat to life or serious injury.

Nevertheless, investigations and evidence regularly collected by DCI-P indicate that the occupation forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that do not appear to be justifiable and may amount to extrajudicial killing or intentional killing.

In this context, the DCI-P movement referred to the death of the 16-year-old, Muhammad Matar, from Deir Abu Masha'al village, northwest of Ramallah, on August 19, 2020. The IOF soldiers opened fire on Matar and his two friends as they approached a street used by Jewish settlers near the village. This led to his death and the injury of his two friends, noting that the child's body is still being held by IOF until this day.

 

Source: The Palestinian Information Center