Ramallah, July 31, 2018—A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed after carrying out a fatal stabbing attack in an Israeli settlement in the central West Bank Thursday night.
Around 11 p.m., Mohammad Tarek Ibrahim Dar Yousef entered Geva Binyamin settlement, also called Adam, northeast of Jerusalem and stabbed three Israelis, killing one and wounding two others. A resident of the settlement shot Mohammad, killing him, according to local news reports.
“Where individuals allegedly carry out a violent criminal act, they should be apprehended in accordance with international law and afforded due process of law. International law requires that intentional lethal force be used only when absolutely unavoidable to protect life, and only when lesser means would be insufficient to apprehend a suspect,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at Defense for Children International - Palestine.
“Given that Israeli forces and settlers routinely employ intentional lethal force in circumstances not justified by international law, we call for a prompt, independent, and impartial investigation into the incident.”
The boy’s family told DCIP that they were informed of Mohammad’s death over the phone by the Palestinian liaison. Israeli forces raided their home in the Ramallah-area village of Kobar early Friday and stated that they intended to demolish it, the family told DCIP.
Mohammad is the first child to be killed while carrying out an actual or alleged stabbing attack since August 19, 2017.
Last year, five Palestinian children accused of committing some kind of attack sustained fatal gunshot wounds at the hands of Israeli forces. Of 32 children killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and security guards in 2016, 24 were accused of committing an attack.
Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present. In some incidents, DCIP found that the use of lethal force against these children did not appear to be warranted and may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.
