Ramallah, February 13, 2023—Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the northern occupied West Bank yesterday.
Qusai Radwan Yousef Waked, 14, was shot in the abdomen by an Israeli sniper around 3 p.m. on February 12 in agricultural land near the Abdullah Azzam mosque, southwest of Jenin refugee camp, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Israeli forces entered Jenin refugee camp around 1 p.m. to conduct arrest operations, then armed Palestinian residents confronted Israeli forces. Qusai was standing about 30 meters (98 feet) behind three armed Palestinian men when an Israeli sniper exchanged fire with the armed Palestinians. The Israeli sniper, who was stationed in the window on the third floor of a Palestinian-owned residential building about 550 meters (1804 feet) away, shot Qusai in the right side of his abdomen. Several volunteer paramedics carried him about 50 meters (164 feet) to an ambulance, which transferred him to Ibn Sina Hospital. Doctors attempted to resuscitate Qusai for about an hour before declaring him dead.
“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.”
Qusai was unarmed, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
Israeli forces have killed ten Palestinian children so far this year, including nine killed in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Hamza Amjad Yousef Ashqar on February 7 in Nablus. Israeli forces shot 17-year-old Wadea Abdulaziz Meri Abu Ramouz on January 25 then withheld his body after he succumbed to his injuries on January 27. Abdullah Marwan Juma’a Mousa, 17, and Wasim Amjad Aref Abu Jaes, 16, were killed by Israeli forces in the morning of January 26 in Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. Amr Khaled Lutfi Al-Khmour, 14, was shot and killed by Israeli forces on January 16 near the entrance to Dheisheh refugee camp. Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Amer Ghazi Mahmoud Zeitoun in Balata refugee camp in the early morning of January 5. Israeli forces shot and killed 15-year-old Adam Issam Shaker Ayyad on January 3 in Dheisheh refugee camp. On January 1, an Israeli sniper shot 17-year-old Fuad Mahmoud Ahmad Abed in Kafr Dan, west of Jenin, and he was pronounced dead early in the morning on January 2.
10-year-old Nayef Khaled Nayef Al-Odat died on January 26 from head injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike last August in the southern Gaza Strip.
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.
53 Palestinian children were killed in 2022, according to documentation collected by DCIP, including 36 Palestinian children shot and killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank. DCIP documented the killing of 17 Palestinian children between August 5–7 after Israeli forces launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
