14-yr-old Palestinian killed, report says Israel’s hunt for children deliberate

Ramallah: Israeli forces are reported to have been chasing after Palestinian children, as an act of deliberate attempt to create panic and trauma in Palestinians, a report by Israeli Human Rights organization HaMoked said.

The report said that hundreds of Palestinian children are caught in planned raids a year, most of them happening at night, by Israeli forces. Most often the children would be released after a short term without charges, which shows those raids and arrests were made for intimidating Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, HaMoked said that examined 125 cases last year.

“On Flimsy Grounds: Israel’s Pervasive Night Arrests of Palestinian Children,” the report published on January 16 said.

The report reinforces the latest killing of 14-year-old Omar Lotfi Khumour, who was shot point-blank by Israeli soldiers in the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. The report said that no Palestinian family was given a notice from Israeli forces that storm houses at night.

With the killing, the number of Palestinians, who were killed in Israeli hands since the beginning of the year rose to 14, including four children. Crowds of Palestinians massed outside the hospital where the teenager was taken, chanting protests against Israel.

HaMoked’s report was based on information from 294 families who contacted it to locate their child after his detention. Of these, 125 were concerned with an arrest operation in the middle of the night.

“Israel’s conduct toward Palestinian children wanted for questioning constitutes a severe violation of its international legal obligations,” the report said.