A 16-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed in Nablus on Tuesday morning, making him the sixth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in the span of 24 hours.
According to Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), 16-year-old Hamza Ashqar was shot and killed by Israeli forces at around 3:20 am Tuesday morning during an Israeli military incursion into the Al-Masaken Al-Sha’bya neighborhood of Nablus.
Ashqar and a group of boys from the New Askar refugee camp were confronting Israeli forces with rocks and other objects, which they threw towards military vehicles as the army withdrew from the area.
Hamza reportedly threw a piece of metal towards the army vehicles from a distance of close to 100 feet, when an Israeli soldier fired two shots at him from inside one of the military vehicles.
Hamza was struck with both bullets, one in his mouth and one on the left side of his waist. DCIP added that he was evacuated in a private vehicle to the Rafidia Surgical Hospital in Nablus, and was pronounced dead at around 3:45 am.
“Israeli forces routinely resort to intentional lethal force in situations not justified under international law and make no effort to impartially investigate or ensure that Israeli soldiers act in accordance with international standards,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Israeli forces’ near-daily incursions into Palestinian communities too often result in an Israeli soldier’s bullet in a Palestinian child’s body.”
According to DCIP, Hamza was the ninth Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces since the start of the year.
His killing comes the day after Israeli forces launched a deadly incursion into the Aqbat Jaber refugee camp and the surrounding areas in Jericho, killing five Palestinian fighters who were accused of carrying out an attempted shooting near an illegal Israeli settlement late last month.
Israeli forces have killed 42 Palestinians so far this year, with an average of more than one Palestinian killed every day.
Would they have killed in the same manner, had this been one of their settler terrorists?
No one can fault these poor kids for throwing anything they can find around them, at those who have made their lives a living hell, have known no other life but the one that gives them no freedom, rights, and a life that every human being deserves. They have seen their families killed, and they have been terrorized by snipers and precision bombs….if any human being had to endure this miserable existence meted by the apartheid nation, for all their lives, they would reach for anything they can lay their hands on, to show their anger and frustration. If the situation was reversed, and knowing how mean the zionists are, you can be sure they would be resisting and reacting in a worse manner.
The zionists have a nasty habit of killing any Palestinian that moves.