Ref: 106/2021
Date: 02 August 2021
Time: 12:30 GMT
On Wednesday afternoon, 28 July 2021, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stationed at an Israeli checkpoint shot and killed 12-year-old Mohammed Mo’ayad Abu Sarah in central Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron, as the child was in his father’s car accompanying him and his brother to buy grocery. This crime reflects the unjustifiable loose shooting measures adopted by IOF in disregard for Palestinian civilians’ lives, including children, not posing any imminent threat to Israeli soldiers’ lives.
Over the past few days, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) investigated this crime and obtained eyewitnesses’ testimonies, including the father’s. All testimonies proved that IOF opened fire without any threat present to anyone’s life.
According to an eyewitness, who is an owner of a store only 50 meters away from the military checkpoint,[1] at approximately 15:00 last Wednesday, he heard some noise outside his store and looked through the glass door to find 4 Israeli soldiers coming from Abu al-Tok Road and stopping in front of his shop. They started yelling and swearing; meanwhile, he noticed a Palestinian civilian car reversing towards a sub road, which was 4 meters away from his store. Afterwards, a truck arrived from the village and stopped in the middle of the road hiding part of the car, so one of the Israeli soldiers moved and fired 6 bullets followed by another round. Another soldier standing few meters away from the first one fired 2 bullets in the air. The eyewitness added, “I saw a third soldier (apparently he was the officer in charge) screaming at the soldier who opened fire the first time and slapped him in the face…”
The victim’s father, Mo’ayad Bahjat Abu Sarah (37), said to PCHR that he took his sons, Mohammed (12), Ahmed (5) and ‘Anan (9), to run errands. He added that after he finished shopping on his way back home to Beit Ummar, his son Mohammed asked him to go back to the supermarket to buy some items. The father said, “I reversed 70 meters back as my son Ahmed was sitting next to me while Mohammed and ‘Anan were in the backseat. There was a truck on the road wanting to pass when suddenly I head heavy shooting. I asked the boys to get down and was wondering whom the soldiers were shooting at, but I did not see any of them. I sped away to the road leading to the central village fearing for my sons. I looked at the backseat and saw my son Mohammed lying on his right side. Less than a minute later, I looked at him again and called him: Mohammed,, but he did not answer and his eyes were fully open…”
Mohammed was taken to the medical center in the village and then referred to al-Ahli Hospital, where he was admitted to the Emergency Department and pronounced dead.
It should be noted that IOF killed another Palestinian civilian during the funeral of Abu Sara in next day. According to eyewitnesses, IOF fired 2 live bullets from a distance of 70 meters at Shawkat Kh. ‘A. Za’aqeeq (21); the first bullet penetrated his upper right abdomen, so he fell to the ground, while the second bullet penetrated his head during his attempt to get up off the ground. A number of Palestinian young men managed to reach Za’aqeeq and took him to a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance that transferred him to al-Mizan Specialized Hospital, where he underwent a surgery to stop the bleeding. At approximately 19:00, doctors announced Za’aqeeq dead succumbing to his wounds.
PCHR warns of the increasing number of murder crimes committed by IOF against Palestinian civilians, as PCHR documented the murder of 5 civilians in cold blood, including 2 children, in less than a week. Moreover, investigations emphasize that these crimes were committed without any justification and in violation of shooting standards, as there was no imminent danger or threat to the soldiers’ lives. As a result, the number of children killed by IOF since the beginning of this year has risen to 74: 63 from the Gaza Strip and 11 from the West Bank.
This comes in the context of escalating violations committed by IOF, the latest of which was raiding the Defense for Children International (DCI) -Palestine Office and confiscating computers and some files relevant to DCI’s work.
PCHR reiterates its call on the international community to act immediately to stop the IOF crimes and renews its call on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e. to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances and their obligations under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and to guarantee Palestinian civilians’ right to protection in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
[1] The checkpoint is made of cement blocks and is 80 meters from the military watchtower in the area.
