Ramallah, September 20, 2023—Israeli special forces shot and killed a Palestinian boy during an incursion into Jenin yesterday.
Rafat Omar Ahmad Khamayseh, 15, was shot by Israeli special forces while leaving his grandfather’s house in Jenin refugee camp around 7:30 p.m. on September 19, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. As he left the house, Rafat saw Israeli special forces exiting three Palestinian licensed cars and surround the home of the father of a Palestinian man wanted for arrest. Rafat fled, yelling, “Special forces! Special forces!” One Israeli soldier chased Rafat and shot him in the abdomen from a distance of 10 meters (33 feet). Rafat fell and a Palestinian resident of Jenin refugee camp approached him to offer aid. Israeli special forces fired another shot toward Rafat, and the Palestinian man threw himself on top of Rafat and rolled him toward his house, less than five meters (16 feet) away. The man and his family sheltered Rafat for about an hour and a half as the Israeli military prevented ambulances from accessing Jenin refugee camp. Rafat died before an ambulance transferred him to Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin.
“Israeli forces routinely use lethal force in situations not justified by international law,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Increasing Israeli military incursions into Palestinian cities and refugee camps combined with systemic impunity results in Israeli forces seemingly resorting to live ammunition and excessive use of force for crowd control purposes with complete disregard for the deadly consequences.”
Rafat was struck with one bullet that entered his abdomen and exited from the upper right side of his chest, according to documentation collected by DCIP. He bled extensively from his mouth and nose while waiting for an ambulance.
Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including Rafat, and injured at least 30 during the incursion into Jenin refugee camp, according to Al Jazeera.
46 Palestinian children have been killed in 2023, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers have shot and killed at least 38 Palestinian children and killed one Palestinian child with a targeted drone strike in the occupied West Bank. Six Palestinian children in Gaza were killed in the May 2023 Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, and a 10-year-old Palestinian child in Gaza succumbed to head wounds he sustained during the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip in August 2022.
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.
