Ramallah, November 5, 2023—Israeli forces shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in the central occupied West Bank on Friday and he succumbed to his wounds today.
Rami Ez Mousa Odeh, 15, was shot by Israeli forces around 3:30 a.m. on November 3, in the Palestinian town of Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, in the central occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Israeli forces carried out an incursion into Eizariya early on Friday and Rami stood on the rooftop of his home photographing confrontations with Israeli forces. Israeli forces shot Rami while on the rooftop and shot at everyone that approached the rooftop, preventing anyone from reaching him for about 15 minutes. Rami was transported by a private car to the Abu Dis clinic and then by ambulance to the Beit Jala Governmental Hospital in critical condition. He sustained at least three gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. Doctors removed a kidney and part of his liver, but he suffered from severe internal bleeding and died today in hospital.
“Israeli forces are escalating military attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, routinely resorting to intentional lethal force in circumstances not justified by international law,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Empowered by systemic impunity, Israeli forces have increasingly unlawfully killed Palestinian children throughout the West Bank since 2014. There are essentially no limits on Israeli forces, making war crimes against Palestinian children the norm in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
Israeli forces killed two other Palestinian boys in the occupied West Bank on November 3. Yamen Mahmoud Nabil Jarrar, 16, was killed by Israeli forces using a drone-fired missile around 4:30 a.m., west of Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, and Mohammad Wael Ata Al-Jabari, 17, was shot in the chest by Israeli forces around 1:30 p.m. in the Bir al-Hummus area of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces apprehended and shot Hamza Zaied Abed Sawafta, 17, around 2:30 p.m. on November 3, at Israel’s Tayasir military checkpoint, east of the Palestinian city of Tubas, in the northern occupied West Bank. Hamza’s whereabouts and condition is unknown.
Israeli forces have escalated military operations throughout the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, carrying out increasing numbers of search and arrest operations.
44 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to documentation collected by DCIP, when the Israeli military began a full-scale bombardment on the Gaza Strip dubbed Operation Iron Swords.
So far this year, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 84 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 73 Palestinian children with live ammunition, seven Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, and four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopter.
At least 136 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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.
