Israel kills three Palestinian children in one week
Yousif Abu Athra (via Defense for Children International - Palestine)-Muhammad al-Hattab (via Quds News Network)
-24 March 2017
Maureen Clare Murphy
Maureen Clare Murphy
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian boy and critically injured three others in the central occupied West Bank on Thursday night, bringing to three the number of children killed by soldiers in the past week.
Video and photos appear to contradict Israel’s claims about the slaying of 17-year-old Muhammad al-Hattab, who was shot in the chest and shoulder.
Israeli forces in a military tower opened heavy fire on the car in which al-Hattab and the other youths were traveling, Palestinian media reported.
An Israeli army spokesperson told media that the youths had thrown firebombs towards a food stand near the Beit El settlement adjacent to the Jalazone refugee camp.
Soldiers in the Golani Brigade – whose fighters have incited the killing of Palestinians on social media and are suspected of perpetrating war crimes in Gaza – shot at the youths after they had exited the car next to the settlement, the army claimed.
“In response to the threat, Israeli forces in the area fired towards the suspects, and several hits were confirmed. The suspects then fled the scene,” according to an army spokesperson.
But the military’s assertion that the youths were shot outside the vehicle and managed to flee appeared to be contradicted by photos and video showing the driver’s seat of the car stained with blood, shattered windows and bullet marks on the vehicle’s exterior: