The first half of 2018 has been deadly for Palestinian children, with at least 35 children killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip, according to Defense for Children International — Palestine (DCIP).
In a report published on Monday, DCIP said that between January and July, the number of slain Palestinian children was three times higher than during the same time period in 2017.
According to the group, Israeli forces have killed more Palestinian children since January this year than in any previous year of the past decade, outside of large-scale Israeli military offensives.
On August 5th, the day before the report was published, 17-year-old Ahmad Jihad Ahmad al-Aydi from Gaza succumbed to wounds he had sustained on the first day of Great March of Return protests on March 30th.
Al-Aydi was one of four minors who died of gunshot wounds between July 27 and August 5 after Israeli forces shot them during protests on the the Gaza border.
The other three were identified as Muath Ziad Ibrahim al-Soury, 15, Moemen Fathi Yousef al-Hams, 16, and Majdi Ramzi Kamal al-Satri, 11.
The majority of the children killed in 2018 were killed in Gaza, according to DCIP, with at least 22 of those children killed in the context of the Great March of Return protests.
The ongoing popular demonstrations have been violently suppressed by Israeli forces, who have killed 160 Palestinians and injured over 17,000 more, according to numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The majority of the slain children, according to DCI, were shot with live ammunition, while two were struck by artillery shells.
Of those killed by live ammunition, 13 children were shot in the head, neck, or chest, the group said said.
One of those children shot in the chest was 14-year-old Arkan Mizher, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces shot during an arrest raid in Dheisheh refugee camp in the middle of the night on July 23.
“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,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at DCIP said in the report.
The group added that “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,” while noting that under international law, the use lethal force is strictly reserved for instances when a”direct and mortal threat to life or of serious injury exists.”
The number of Palestinian children who died at the hands of the Israeli occupation this year has doubled in comparison to 2017, during which 15 children were killed, according to DCIP records.
What kind of monsters will kill without mercy? What kind of monsters will kill without hesitation, teenagers and children? So were the mighty IDF armed with deadly weapons “defending” themselves from children?Who believes this bull sh** anymore? Trump, Jared, and Dershowitz are okay with this? YES. Shame on Saudi Arabia for holding Bibi’s hands that are covered with blood. Despicable lot.
Obviously, somebody influential thinks Palestinian children are not fully human.
Meanwhile;
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/30/ahed-tamimi-i-am-a-freedom-fighter-i-will-not-be-the-victim-palestinian-israel
The Guardian, July 30/18
Interview
Ahed Tamimi: “‘I am a freedom fighter. I will not be the victim'”
By Oliver Holmes and Sufian Taha in Nabi Saleh
“Day after her release, teenage Palestinian activist says she hopes to become a lawyer and lead cases against Israel”
EXCERPT:
“’I’m not the victim of the occupation,’ Ahed said. “‘The Jew or the settler child who carries a rifle at the age of 15, they are the victims of the occupation. For me, I am capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. But not him. His view is clouded. His heart is filled with hatred and scorn against the Palestinians. He is the victim, not me. I always say I am a freedom fighter. So I will not be the victim.’”
Democracy Now interview: August 6/18
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/8/6/meet_ahed_tamimi_17_year_old
“Meet Ahed Tamimi, 17-Year-Old West Bank Activist Jailed for 8 Months for Slapping Israeli Soldier”
EXCERPT:
“Seventeen-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi has been freed from Israeli prison after eight months behind bars. Known to some as the Rosa Parks of Palestine, Tamimi became a hero to Palestinians and people around the world last year after a viral video showed her slapping a heavily armed Israeli soldier near her family’s home in the occupied West Bank. The incident came just after Tamimi learned her cousin had been gravely wounded by an Israeli soldier who shot him in the head using a rubber-coated steel bullet. Video of Tamimi confronting the soldier went viral, elevating her into a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Ahed was soon arrested in the middle of the night and charged with assault in an Israeli military court. She was sentenced to eight months in an Israeli prison and celebrated her 17th birthday behind bars. Her mother was also arrested and charged for incitement, in part for streaming video online showing the interaction between Tamimi and the Israeli soldier. Tamimi and her mother, Nariman, were released in late July. We speak with Ahed Tamimi from her home in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.”
Including their ancestors, Palestinians have been living between the River and the Sea for about 15,000 years. Over the millennia they have known and eventually defeated many occupiers, e.g., the European Crusaders. The Zionist occupation will prove to be one of the briefest.