(MENAFN- Palestine News Network )
Bethlehem /PNN/
The non-governmental organization Defense for Children International (DCI-Palestine) has reported that 14 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2022.
DCI-Palestine said in a statement that the latest among these victims was a 16-year-old Palestinian who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
“The international community's silence and lack of legal accountability encouraged the Israeli occupation army to continue killing Palestinian children,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the director of the Accountability Program at the DCIP.
He also said the evidence DCI-Palestine has gathered indicates that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children,“in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial killings or murder.”
The organization said the child's parents said they were told by the doctors at the time that the 0.22 bullet had cut major arteries, resulting in severe bleeding.
The DCIP said Israel's claim that the child Ali Abu Alya had been shot by mistake is not the first of its kind, and that it had documented several cases of children besides Ali who were wounded and killed by Ruger rifle bullets during the past years.
Ali's death drew international condemnations, with the United Nations' Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, calling on Israel to“swiftly and independently investigate this shocking and unacceptable incident.”
Violent tactics against Palestinians, including using tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and live rounds, are the tools of the trade for Israeli forces.
The international community has repeatedly voiced concerns about the use of live ammunition by Israeli forces against the Palestinians, who pose no threat to them.
According to reports by international law organizations, eight Palestinian children between the ages of 13 and 17 have been fatally shot by Israeli soldiers since the beginning of the year.
According to DCI-Palestine, Israeli occupation forces and armed settlers killed 78 Palestinian children in 2021, marking the deadliest year for Palestinian children since 2014.
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