Human rights group: Israeli soldiers to blame for killing Palestinian boy

The Israeli army is to blame for the death of 14-year-old Palestinian boy Yousef Al-Shawamreh last week, Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem said yesterday.

In a statement published on its website, the organisation said Al-Shawamreh and his two friends “were crossing the barrier in order to pick gundelia [Arabic: ‘Akub], a thistle-like edible plant annually harvested at this time of year that serves as an important source of income for local residents.

“The Al-Shawamrehs own farmland that is now separated from them by the barrier, and that land is where the three youths were heading to gather plants.”

When the Israeli occupation forces killed Al-Shawamreh last week, they claimed the youngster and his two friends were trying to sabotage the separation wall.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army told AFP: “Three suspects sabotaged the security fence in Deir Al-Asal Al-Tahta, southwest of Hebron.” She said that the troops had verbally warned them to move away from the area then fired warning shots in the air.

She continued: “When that did not work, troops fired towards the lower extremities of the main instigator.”

However, B’Tselem found that the youngsters crossed the wall from an already sabotaged area.

The human rights organisation’s findings “are markedly different from the description given by the IDF Spokesperson: the youths made no attempt at vandalism; they were crossing through a long-existing breach and the soldiers did not carry out suspect arrest procedure, shooing at Al-Shawamreh with no advance warning,” the statement said.

It added: “Although a military base is located a mere two kilometres away, a military ambulance reached the site of the shooting only about 30 minutes later.”

“By justifying the use of lethal fire in broad daylight at youths who posed no danger to any other persons, [the action of the Israeli soldiers] conveys a cynical lack of concern for the life of a Palestinian teenager.”