RAMALLAH, May 12, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli forces consistently shoot Palestinian children with complete impunity, killing
or permanently disabling them, an international child rights group revealed on
Monday.
The feature by Defense for
Children International Palestine (DCIP) revealed that Israeli forces routinely
fire live ammunition at Palestinian children, inflicting lifelong
physical and psychological damage upon them, with complete impunity.
DCIP documented the case of Fadel Abu Odwan, 11, who was shot and
seriously injured by Israeli forces deployed near the Israeli-Gaza border near
his village of Shokat in the southern strip during February 2014.
Over a year after surviving the attack, DCI interviewed Fadel and
asked him to relate the circumstances surrounding the incident that has had a
devastating impact on his life
Commenting on the impact the incident has had
on his life, Fadel says: “I cannot marry or have children in the future. My
future was destroyed - they took everything from me. This injury has changed my
life forever.”
Fadel was reported in a 2014 news
alert by DCIP about the incident that incapacitated
him as saying that Israeli military jeeps approached the Israeli side of the
border fence at full speed as he walked to meet his brother near the area, and
shot at him as he fled. After being left to bleed for three hours, in full view
of Israeli forces, relatives were able to rescue Fadel and take him to
hospital.
Fadel sustained injuries to his groin when a
live bullet struck him as he ran. At the hospital, doctors placed him in
intensive care before transferring him to surgery to extract the bullet lodged
in his thigh and remove his testicles.
Fadel’s doctor said at the time that the injury
“will cause [him] lifelong physical and psychological damage, and will
certainly affect his ability to marry and have children.”
Since the incident, Fadel has struggled with a
host of health problems resulting from the injury. He suffers from
incontinence, problems breathing, and pain when standing for even short periods
of time. All this has taken a toll on his mental health.
At school, Fadel is subjected to bullying and
name-calling. “Every time they call me names it provokes me,” he said to DCIP.
“If they cursed me, or called me a dog or a monkey, I wouldn’t get angry. But
when they call me this name [referring to my disability] I lose my mind, I get
crazy.” In addition to this, Fadel has recurring nightmares, and frequently
wakes up screaming.
Evidence collected by DCIP shows that in 2014
the use of live ammunition by Israeli soldiers was responsible for the deaths
of 11 Palestinian children in the West Bank. Another 299 Palestinian children
sustained gunshot injuries, according to data from the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The number excludes children
injured during Israel assault on Gaza last summer.
“Injuries like Fadel’s inflict lifelong
physical and psychological damage, and yet soldiers consistently fire at children
with complete impunity,” DCIP concluded.
DCIP refutes Israeli army allegations that it
has restricted the use of live ammunition to circumstances where a soldier is
in direct, mortal danger.
DCIP documentation suggests that Israeli
soldiers routinely fire live ammunition in breach of regulations. Even in the
gravest of cases, where Palestinian children are killed or permanently
disabled, perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.
Last year, only one of the 11 cases in which a
child was fatally shot resulted in an indictment. The majority of cases are
often subject to a brief operational review, which frequently clears the
soldiers involved of any wrongdoing. In April, Israel’s State Attorney’s Office found that the 2013 killing of a Palestinian boy, Samir
Awad, 16, as he fled from soldiers was merely “reckless and negligent”.
The likelihood that Israeli authorities will
bring to justice the soldier responsible for shooting Fadel is nominal.
“I want to be like I was before I was injured,”
Fadel says. “I want to feel like I have a future. All this is because of the
Israeli soldier who shot me. He aimed at the most sensitive part. I wish the
same could happen to him. I wish he could feel what I am feeling.”