The International Movement for Defense of Children confirmed that the occupation soldiers intentionally target Palestinian children with live, explosive, and rubber-coated metal bullets from close range and towards the upper parts of the body, with the aim of killing them or causing permanent disabilities to them. , Taking advantage of their lack of accountability and the protection umbrella provided by the occupying power.
In a report, the movement documented many testimonies and accounts that confirm this fact, and in one of these cases the 15-year-old child Bashar Hamad, from Qalandia camp, north of Jerusalem, tells the details of his injury with a rubber-coated metal bullet in his right eye, which led to its eradication.
The child, Bashar, said: “I was near the big mosque of the camp with my brother, who is two years older than me. We were on our way home, returning from school, and during that time we noticed the presence of the occupation forces at the entrance to the camp, and that a number of soldiers were on the rooftops, so we knew that they were going to enter the camp.”
He added: “It was on Tuesday (11/17/2020) and at around 1:15 in the afternoon, the soldiers started firing stun grenades and tear gas canisters very intensely, to the point where I could no longer see, even my brother no longer saw him, and I did not want Returning home without him, so I stopped near the mosque for a while and during that I felt something very strong hit my right eye, so I put my hand on it, and if it was bleeding profusely. Hospital, but took secondary roads for fear of being obstructed by the occupation soldiers. "
The global movement indicated that the wounded child was transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where he was given first aid before being transferred to an eye medical center in the city, and then to the Istishari Hospital, and then to the An-Najah National University Hospital in Nablus. There, I immediately entered the operating room.
Bashar added, "I woke up on the second day, and my father, who accompanied me to the hospital, told me that the injury was with a rubber-coated metal bullet, which led to complete damage to the right eye, so it was removed, in addition to a fracture above the right eyebrow, laceration of the sinuses and slight bruising."
The child concluded his speech by saying: “I have never experienced something very difficult and difficult for me, and I hope that I can adapt to this change that has occurred in my life, and I hope that medicine will progress in the future to the extent that I can implant a real eye in which I can see, and I will install a cosmetic eye somewhere I lost my eyes, but after my health condition has completely stabilized. "
Malik lost his left eye
The second story transmitted by the global movement was about the eight-year-old child Malek Issa, who lost his left eye as a result of being hit by a "sponge" bullet on the fifteenth of February 2020, while returning from school in his village of Issawiya in occupied Jerusalem.
The child´s father told the movement: “Malik got off the school bus at around 2 pm and went to a nearby grocery store to buy some snacks, and when he left the grocery store and crossed the street toward the house in the center of the village, which is not far from the grocery store, without any prior warning or any A reason, he was hit with a sponge bullet between his eyes, fired by the occupation soldiers, who were in the neighborhood at the time, with the aim of arresting a young man.
He added that a number of young men took his child in a private vehicle to Hadassah Al-Isawiya Hospital, and then he was transferred to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital.
The father explained that his child underwent two surgeries, the first was to stop the bleeding caused by the injury and the second was to restore the fractures in the skull, indicating that his child´s left eye was removed because it was completely damaged, and that the doctors tried to keep it, but because there was a wound behind it and to treat it, it had to be done. Eliminate it for fear of any negative health consequences for the child.
The International Movement for Defense of Children added that the eyewitnesses who met them confirmed that the occupation soldiers were in the area with the aim of arresting a young man, and that there were no confrontations when the child Malik was wounded. -20 meters only.
Amir ... live with bullet residue
The third case documented by the global movement was regarding the 15-year-old child Amir Joudeh from the town of Hizma in the occupied Jerusalem governorate, who was wounded on October 4, 2020, with a live bullet in the head, fired at him by the Israeli occupation soldiers from a distance ranging between 150-200 Meter, while playing with a number of his peers near the cemetery, according to eyewitnesses.
The child´s uncle, Amir, told the global movement: After Amir left the x-ray room, I noticed doctors unhappy with his health condition, and here I realized that his injury was not easy, and this was confirmed to me later by a doctor.
The child´s uncle added: "The injury was in the head, specifically above the left ear, and the process lasted about two hours during which the bullet fragments that exploded upon the injury were extracted, the injured area was restored, and part of the skull bones were removed for the purpose of restoration, provided that it would be returned after about 6 months, after The child´s health status is stable. "
He explained that not all of the bullet fragments had been extracted, "part of it remained in Amir´s head because extracting it was dangerous to his life."
He said, "The injury left an impact on Amir, so he could not move the right part of his body except in a very simple way, and also affected his speech, and he would need several sessions of physical therapy."
Muhammad Shteiwi ... a "rubber" bullet penetrated his skull and immobilized him
As for the fourth case documented by the movement, it was related to the child Muhammad Shteiwi (15 years) from the village of Kafr Qaddum in the Qalqilya Governorate, who is still undergoing treatment and is completely unable to move on his own, due to his injury with a rubber-coated metal bullet on the right side of his head that penetrated his skull. During clashes with the Israeli occupation forces, which broke out in the village, on January 30, 2020.
Defense for Children International reports that an eyewitness reported that the Israeli occupation soldiers pursued the youths and children that day and fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at them. He added, "A number of children, including Muhammad Shteiwi, hid behind the rocks so that they would not be hit by bullets. Three soldiers approached them to a distance of about 20 meters, so Muhammad wanted to flee from the scene, and then one of them shot him and immediately fell on the ground."
He added: "I immediately went towards him, he was lying on his face, I shouted at him to stand, but he did not respond, so I turned him on his back and there was blood bleeding from the right side of his head, and he was not moving at all, so I carried him with the help of some young men who came and put him in a private vehicle, amid gunfire. On us by the occupation soldiers. "
The Global Movement relays from the child´s parents their story that a Palestinian ambulance received the child on the Qalqilya Nablus road and took him to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, and there he was admitted to the operating room in order to stop the bleeding, and then he was transferred to a hospital inside the lands in 1948 due to the seriousness of his health condition. Where the rubber-coated metal caliber lodged in his skull,
The parents add that their child now cannot move alone, as he moves in a wheelchair, and with their help, they explained that the injury affected the left side of his body, and he underwent surgery in early November 2020 to remove fluid from the brain, and he is scheduled to undergo another surgery from In order to remove a bone from the right foot and place it in his head, for the purpose of repair.
Defense for Children International renewed its call to the member states of the United Nations to urge the United Nations Secretary-General to include the Israeli occupation forces on the list of armies and armed groups violating the rights of children in his annual report on children and armed conflict, for committing grave violations against children, especially the killing and maiming of children. To ensure justice for Palestinian children, and for the perpetrators of these violations to be held accountable.
