The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, called on the Israeli authorities to conduct a thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation into the Israeli forces’ shooting of nine-year-old Palestinian child, Abdul Rahman Shteiwi on July 12, and to make sure that those responsible for any wrongdoing are held accountable.
Colville said:
“We are very concerned by the critical condition of a nine-year-old Palestinian child, Abdul Rahman Shteiwi, after he was shot in the head by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) on 12 July, in what appears to have been an example of excessive use of force.”
Spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called the shooting of a 9-year-old Palestinian child in the head by Israeli soldiers "an example of excessive use of force" & called on Israeli army to conduct "an impartial investigation."https://t.co/BTapKupp11
— Abrar Khan (@khanabrar643) July 30, 2019
The incident occurred during a weekly protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum, near Nablus. While protesters were burning tires and throwing stones at the Israeli army, Israeli soldiers – after initially responding with rubber bullets and stun grenades – reportedly resorted to using live ammunition, without apparent reason to justify the move to use of lethal force, said the spokesman in a press briefing note.
The shot to his forehead resulted in a large hole and multiple skull fractures. Initially taken to a hospital in Nablus, he was later transferred to an Israeli hospital, where he remains alive but in a critical condition. Scans show dozens of fragments in the child’s head resulting in serious brain damage, from which he is unlikely to recover, even if he survives.
The shooting of 9-year old Palestinian boy Abdul Rahman Shteiwi is one of the latest in a long list of incidents in which children have been injured or killed by the ISF.#NotATarget Children must be given special protection & not be put at risk.
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— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) July 30, 2019
“The shooting of Abdul Rahman is one of the latest in a long list of incidents in the occupied Palestinian Territory in which children and juveniles have been injured or killed in circumstances that strongly suggest excessive force was used by the ISF.”
According to several credible sources, the nine-year-old child was not taking an active part in the protest. He was reportedly over 100 meters away from the clashes and manifestly did not present an imminent physical threat to Israeli forces.
(Wafa, PC, Social Media)
