The United Nations Office for Human Rights in Palestine called for transparent investigations after a number of children were seriously injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces.
In a press statement, the office said that the Israeli occupation forces seriously injured four children with live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets in separate incidents in the West Bank during the past two weeks, as all of these cases resulted from the use of potentially lethal force by the Israeli security forces in Circumstances in which the available information indicates that the children did not pose a threat to life and did not expose the soldiers or any other person to serious injury, and thus it appears that the force used was not in conformity with international law.
He pointed out that on November 29, the Israeli occupation forces fired live ammunition in the chest of a 16-year-old boy in Al-Bireh. According to what was reported, the Israeli occupation forces were responding to throwing stones and used live ammunition without warning, as the boy was lying in intensive care.
The United Nations office added in its statement that on the 28th of the same month, the occupation forces fired live ammunition at the chest of another 16-year-old boy in Silwad. He explained that the boy was trying to cross the street while the occupation forces were responding to throwing stones. Although he tried to inform the soldiers of his intention, he was shot while lying in intensive care.
On the 27th of November, during protests in Kafr Qaddum, the occupation forces injured a 16-year-old boy with rubber-coated metal bullets in the head. The boy fell after his injury and was hospitalized, after suffering a fractured skull.
The office continued that on the seventeenth of the same month, a 15-year-old boy lost his right eye when he was on his way back from school, after he was hit by a munition in Qalandia Refugee Camp. Despite the occurrence of clashes on the spot between the Israeli occupation forces and the camp residents, none of the available information indicates that the boy was a threat to anyone at the moment of his shooting.
The United Nations Human Rights Office called on Israel to immediately, transparent and independently investigate all cases of the Israeli occupation forces´ use of force that led to death or injury, and to hold those responsible accountable. According to international law, the use of lethal force is permitted only as a last resort, in response to a threat to life or serious injury.
He emphasized that throwing stones, it seems, does not pose such a threat. In addition, the use of force should be carried out in a manner that causes the least possible damage, indicating that shooting at the head or upper body does not appear to comply with these requirements. He reminded that children enjoy special protection under international law and they must be protected from violence at all times, and they should not be exposed to a threat of violence or encouraged to participate in it.
