Description

Photo:
Yasser Eshteiwi, 10. Published by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers take position during protests in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near the West Bank city of Nablus on February 1, 2019. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90) Published by 972Mag
_____

Update: Published by B'Tselem 7/19/2019
Contrary to military statement: ‘Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi, 9, was shot in the head with live ammunition
_______

by IMEMC News
Published July 12, 2019

Israeli soldiers shot and seriously injured, Friday, a Palestinian child, during the weekly nonviolent procession in Kufur Qaddoum town, east of Qalqilia, in northern West Bank.

The Popular Committee in Kufur Qaddoum said the soldiers attacked the protesters with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades, while many protesters responded by throwing stones at them.

He added that one child, identified as Yasser Eshteiwi, 10, was shot with a live round in the head, and was rushed to a local clinic before being moved to Rafidia Governmental Hospital, in Nablus, in northern West Bank.

The child remains in a critical condition due to his gunshot wound to the head.

The soldiers also invaded the town, and ambushed the protesters, in addition to trying to abduct some of them.

Kufur Qaddoum witnesses frequent Israeli invasions, assaults and abductions as it continues to hold is weekly nonviolent processions against the illegal Annexation Wall and colonies, and against the closure of the main road, which was blockaded by the military fifteen years ago, to enable easy access for colonialist settlers driving to and from the Kedumim colony, built on private Palestinian lands.
______
UPDATE: Over 100 Bullet Fragments in Brain of Palestinian Child Shot in Northern West Bank

by IMEMC News
July 14, 2019 10:34 PM

07/13/19 | International Solidarity Movement | Qalqilia

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian child in the head with live ammunition yesterday during a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, Palestine.

Abdul Rahman Yasser Shteiwi, 10, was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus at around 3pm and was operated on immediately.


07/13/19 | International Solidarity Movement | Qalqilia

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian child in the head with live ammunition yesterday during a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, Palestine.
Abdul Rahman Yasser Shteiwi, 10, was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus at around 3pm and was operated on immediately.

Today, doctors told ISM that a scan of the boy’s brain showed over 100 bullet fragments lodged in his head.

The hospital’s head of neurosurgery, Othman Othman, who operated on the 10-year-old for three and a half hours, claimed that the bullet fired at Abdul was a live round.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: “He had a penetrating injury in the frontal lobe on the right side. The injury was severe and there are more than 100 fragments.

“This is not a rubber bullet; this is a metal bullet. A rubber bullet will not enter because it does not have a sharp head. This is something that had a sharp head.”

UPDATE: Over 100 Bullet Fragments in Brain of Palestinian Child Shot in Northern West Bank
July 14, 2019 10:34 PM IMEMC News & Agencies Israeli attacks, News Report, Qalqilia 0

14 JUL
10:34 PM
07/13/19 | International Solidarity Movement | Qalqilia

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian child in the head with live ammunition yesterday during a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, Palestine.
Abdul Rahman Yasser Shteiwi, 10, was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus at around 3pm and was operated on immediately.
Video Player

00:00
00:12


Today, doctors told ISM that a scan of the boy’s brain showed over 100 bullet fragments lodged in his head.
The hospital’s head of neurosurgery, Othman Othman, who operated on the 10-year-old for three and a half hours, claimed that the bullet fired at Abdul was a live round.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: “He had a penetrating injury in the frontal lobe on the right side. The injury was severe and there are more than 100 fragments.
“This is not a rubber bullet; this is a metal bullet. A rubber bullet will not enter because it does not have a sharp head. This is something that had a sharp head.”

Mr Othman added that he believes the bullet fired at Abdul was “not a normal bullet.”

“I have seen many gunshot wounds and they only break into a few pieces. Over 100 fragments is not normal.”

This disputes claims by the Israeli military that no live ammunition was fired during the Friday protest.

ISM activists also found a 5.56 bullet case on the ground where protesters had been standing some 15 minutes before. The case was hot to the touch suggesting it had been fired that afternoon. Dozens more bullet cases were also found by villagers following the protest.

The 10-year-old remains in critical condition, and is awaiting further scans.

“This injury is a severe traumatic brain injury. He is in critical condition and there is a lot of blood in his brain,” Mr. Othman said. “We can’t yet say what is the real injury to the brain.”

The leader of the popular resistance committee in Kafr Qaddum, Murad Shtaiwi, told ISM: “I don’t have words to explain the sadness I feel.

“The army practised a very big fault if they think that what they did today will make the demonstration go down. No, never.”

Rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired at the crowds, as well as sound bombs. At least two people were injured by rubber bullets, including a child who was shot in the arm and a man who was also hit in the arm.

Mr Shtaiwi added: “I want to send a message to all the international community; if you care about the rights of children, come and protect them and share what happened today with the rest of the world.”
A demonstration will be held again today at 4pm in Kafr Qaddum.
The town has held weekly protests for 9 years against the closure of the main road to the city of Nablus due to the expansion of nearby settlements. Protesters are regularly met with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets fired by heavily armed occupation forces.
______

Israeli soldiers critically wound Palestinian child in Qaddum protests

Israeli soldiers fire live ammunition at anti-occupation protesters in Kufr Qaddum, critically wounding a 10-year-old child.

By +972 Magazine Staff
Published July 12, 2019

A 10-year-old Palestinian child is in critical condition after Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition at an anti-occupation protest in Kufr Qaddum on Friday. Abdul Rahman Yaser Shtewi was shot in the head with a live bullet and is undergoing surgery at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, according to a Facebook statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Dozens of protesters — mainly residents of the village joined by some international and Israeli activists — were demonstrating against the Israeli army’s closure of their main access road to Nablus, the nearest West Bank city.

“In eight years [of protests], the army has never responded in such a crazy way as it did today,” said Murad Shtewi, one of the coordinators of the popular protests in the village and a relative of the wounded child.

“The army has used violence in the past, even fired live bullets before, but today, they fired directly [at protesters] in an attempt to suppress our demonstrations,” he added.

Shtewi explained that, once the soldiers began firing live ammunition, the organizers pulled all the protesters back into the village. The soldiers kept on firing, though. He believes the child, who Shtewi said was merely an onlooker and was not involved in the demonstration, was wounded as protesters were retreating.

“The occupation must answer to the crimes it committed today,” said Shtewi. “I urge all human rights organizations, all children’s rights organizations, UNICEF, to get involved immediately and investigate this incident.”

Kufr Qaddum lies on the main road between the northern West Bank cities of Qalqilya and Nablus. The village itself is situated in Area B, an Oslo Accords designation that puts the Palestinian Authority in charge of civil and administrative matters there. Most of the village’s lands, however, are located in Area C, which is under complete Israeli military control.

For the past eight years, the Palestinian residents of Qaddum have been staging weekly popular protests against the Israeli army’s closure of their main access road. The army closed the road to Palestinian traffic in 2003, citing security concerns to a nearby Israeli settlement partly built on the village’s land.

As a result, Kufr Qaddum residents are forced to take a more circuitous route in order to drive to Nablus, one of the West Bank’s major cities, adding significant time to the journey.

The army has used various tactics over the years in its attempt to suppress the popular struggle. It has utilized attack dogs, installed roadblocks and other forms of collective punishment, carried out waves of arrests and night raids into the village, shot tear gas and putrid ‘skunk water’ at village homes, hung posters threatening to arrest local children, used crowd-control weapons, and even live ammunition.

In response to the army’s presence and violent suppression of the demonstrations, village youths often burn tires, lay large rocks to impede military jeeps, and throw stones toward the soldiers.

Asked about today’s incident in Qaddum, an army spokesperson said: “Earlier today a disturbance developed involving about 60 Palestinians in the village of Qaddum. Palestinians set tires on fire and hurled stones at soldiers there. IDF soldiers responded with means to disperse demonstrations. We are aware of the claim of a wounded Palestinian.”