By Mustafa Deveci
JERUSALEM, Palestine (AA) – A Palestinian child died Friday after being shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
Ali Ayman Ebu Aliyye, 13, died of injuries sustained when he was shot by Israeli troops in al-Mughayyir village, northeast of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, according to a statement by Palestine’s Health Ministry.
Israeli forces injured five Palestinians, including Aliyye, who were taking part in weekly anti-settlement demonstrations in the occupied West Bank city.
Amin Abu Alia, the head of al- Mughayyir Village Council said several army jeeps invaded the eastern area of the village, and attacked unarmed protesters with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades.
He added that the soldiers shot him with a live round in the abdomen, before Palestinian medics rushed him to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where he was immediately sent to surgery, but succumbed to his serious wounds despite all attempts to save his life.
Abu Alia also stated that the soldiers shot four young Palestinian men with rubber-coated steel bullets, and caused many others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
Nickolai Mladenov, the United Nations’ Special Coordinator to the Middle East, called for a credible and independent investigation into the death of the child.
In a tweet, the UN official said, “Israel must swiftly and independently investigate the shocking incident,” and added that “Children enjoy special protection under International Law, and must be protected from violence.”
The Office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the slaying of the child, and said that this incident is part of Israel’s continued brutal and criminal violations against the Palestinian people, especially the children.
It also called on the international community to provide protection to the Palestinian people, and to ensure the establishment of an independent, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Palestinians across the occupied West Bank stage demonstrations every Friday to protest Israel’s decades-long policy of building Jewish-only settlements on confiscated Palestinian land.
International law regards the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as “occupied territory” and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz
Additional report from imemc.org
[Photo: Ali Ayman Ebu Aliyye, 13, killed by Israeli soldiers during peaceful protest. Photo by imemc.org]
