Ramallah, May 18, 2021—Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy today in the central West Bank.
Islam Wael Fahmi Dar Nasser, 16, was struck in the head with Israeli-fired live ammunition around 5 p.m. today in the village of Bil'in, located west of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. He was shot during a demonstration as Israeli forces confronted Palestinian protestors in the village near Israel’s separation barrier, according to information collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Doctors treated Islam at Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah and pronounced him dead at 8:30 pm.
“Israeli forces kill children with impunity,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish the accountability program director at DCIP. “It is a disgrace that while Palestinian children are bombarded in the Gaza Strip and shot dead in the West Bank, little pressure is directed at Israeli authorities to end grave violations against children. All those that stand by in this moment are do nothing else but perpetuating impunity.”
In Bil’in, Israel’s separation barrier has split the village in two preventing Palestinians living in Bil’in from reaching their property. Around 85 percent of Israel’s separation barrier and its planned route is located within the occupied West Bank and not along the Green Line, according to B’Tselem. It results in grave violations of Palestinian rights by severely restricting freedom of movement, restricting access to private land and crucial services.
The demonstrations in Bil’in took place as Palestinians called for a general strike across the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian communities inside Israel today to protest Israel's continuing bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip. The strike also comes amid plans to forcibly displace residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and days of attacks at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Islam is the fifth Palestinian teen shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank this year. Obaida Akram Abdurahman Jawabra, 17, was shot dead by Israeli forces with live ammunition yesterday around 8 p.m. local time in Al-Arroub refugee camp located near the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Obaida sustained a gunshot wound to his chest during a demonstration at the entrance of the camp located near Route 60, the main route in the West Bank connecting Hebron and Jerusalem, DCIP reported.
Israeli forces killed 17-year-old Obaida Jawabreh today in Al-Arroub refugee camp in the southern West Bank.
— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) May 17, 2021
Obaida was the subject of a @DCIPalestine short film with the same name released in 2019.
RIP Obaida. pic.twitter.com/L3YVjvMmo4
Rashid Mohammad Rashid Abu Arra, 16, was shot dead by Israeli forces with live ammunition early last Wednesday morning in the village of Aqaba, located northwest of Tubas in the occupied West Bank. He was shot from behind and sustained two gunshot wounds to the upper and middle back, DCIP reported.
On May 5, Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Said Yousef Mohammad Odeh in Odala, a village located south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Israeli forces reportedly confronted Palestinian youth at the village entrance prior to the shooting. Said was not involved in the confrontations at the time he was shot, according to information collected by DCIP.
Israeli forces shot and killed 17-year-old Attallah Mohammad Harb Rayan on January 26 after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier stationed at Hares Junction, southwest of Nablus and near the illegal Israeli settlements, Revava and Barqan.
Israeli forces have killed at least 163 Palestinian children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip since 2013 with live ammunition or crowd-control weapons. 150 Palestinian children were killed with live ammunition, while an additional 13 were killed by crowd-control weapons, including tear gas canisters, rubber-coated metal bullets, sponge rounds, stun grenades, and flare bombs.
Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present. However, investigations and evidence collected by DCIP regularly suggest that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.
