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Map of Great March of Return demonstration sites. Published by Haaretz March 2018

Palestinian protester flees after dropping a flag at burning tires during clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border, July 19, 2019. Credit: AFP. Published by Haaretz
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49 of those injured in the altercations along the border fence were hit by live fire, Gaza's Health Ministry reports

by Jack Khoury for Haaretz
Published Jul 19, 2019 8:57 PM

Ninety-seven Palestinians were wounded during altercations with the Israeli military along the border between Israel and Gaza, the Strip's Health Ministry reported Friday. Forty-nine of those wounded were hit by live fire. Among the wounded are four paramedics and two journalists.

Last week, 55 Palestinians were wounded in clashes along the border fence; 33 of the protesters were hit by live fire. The protest escalated when two rockets were fired from the coastal enclave toward Israeli Gaza-border communities.

Israel didn't respond to the rocket fire in an attempt to prevent another escalation. The rockets landed in open areas near Israeli communities, causing no damage. Israel's political echelon decided to avoid a strike on Gaza, forgoing the usual policy of immediate response to any rocket launch.

The rockets were launched after a Hamas activist, Mahmoud al-Adham, was shot dead by Israeli troops along the border last Thursday. The Israeli army made a rare statement in which it called the Palestinian's death a "misunderstanding," explaining that he was misidentified as a terrorist while he was trying to turn away Palestinian protesters from the border. Hamas leaders said that they would retaliate, and clarified in talks with Egyptian and UN mediators who arrived in the Strip following the incident that they will not let this pass without a response. Israel, however, clarified that it would not accept an aggressive response.

Two weeks ago, the weekly March of Return protests also reached the West Bank. A 10-year-old Palestinian boy was critically wounded during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Palestinian media reported that the boy, Abdul-Rahman Yasser Shtewi, was hit in the head by a rubber bullet fired by Israeli forces during a weekly protest against the West Bank separation barrier. However, the Palestinian Health Ministry later said he was hit by live fire.

The Palestinian Red Crescent took the boy to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where he was immediately operated on.

The army claimed no live fire was used, but confirmed riot control gear was deployed against the protesters, who numbered about 60.
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Contrary to military statement: ‘Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi, 9, was shot in the head with live ammunition

By B'Tselem
(Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories)
Published July 19, 2019

B'Tselem investigation published today proves a soldier fired live ammunition, hitting ‘Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi, 9, in the head. A-Shteiwi was injured last week while playing in the entrance to a home in Kafr Qadum during the weekly demonstration in the village. Now hospitalized in critical condition, he is the latest victim of the reckless open-fire policy that allows soldiers to use live fire even when neither they nor anyone else is in any danger.

At about 1:30 PM on Friday, 12 July 2019, the regular weekly demonstration against the closure of the main access road from Kafr Qadum to the regional capital Nablus took place. The military blocked the road in the early 2000s, following the expansion of the adjacent settlement of Kadum. Since then, residents have been forced to use a bypass road that lengthens the journey by about half an hour.

During the demonstration, a few dozen youths threw stones at a number of soldiers deployed along the ridge on the outskirts of the village, several dozen meters from the demonstrators. The soldiers fired rubber coated metal bullets at the protestors, but, in a departure from previous practice in Kadum protests, this time, they also fired a large number of live rounds in the air.

At a distance of about 200 meters from the main protest, about ten protestors threw stones at four soldiers who were a few dozen meters away from them, on another hill on the same ridge. About 100 meters away from this group, further down the road, a resident of Kafr Qadum was sitting under an olive tree with his two 10-year-old children. Opposite them, about 10 meters away, ‘Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi, 9, was sitting at the entrance of one of the homes on the edge of the village playing with a piece of wood.

At about 2:20 PM, as the main demonstration, some 200 meters away from ‘Abd a-Rahman a-Shteiwi, began to disperse, a soldier fired a live bullet. It hit boy’s head and he immediately fell to the ground. The resident who was sitting nearby and a young man who was in the area evacuated the boy to an ambulance waiting some 50 meters away down the road. ‘Abd a-Rahman was taken unconscious to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus and underwent head surgery. Two days later, on 14 July 2019, sedated and ventilated, he was transferred to the intensive care unit at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer.

In its statements to the media, the military denied that soldiers used live fire, and even rejected any responsibility for the incident. A response the military released claimed that the soldiers had used “various crowd-control methods” and that “a report was received of an injured boy aged around ten.” However, 9-year-old A-Shteiwi’s injury is a direct result of the open-fire policy implemented by the military in the Occupied Territories. This policy illegally and without any justification permits the use of live fire against Palestinians who are not endangering anyone. The policy remains in force despite the fact that it has resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths and thousands of injuries.

The military prides itself on regulations restricting the circumstances in which live fire may be used, while at the same time claiming that the law enforcement system will take action against soldiers who violate the regulations. However, these statements are hollow and meaningless. In many cases, the open-fire regulations are completely disregarded. Meanwhile, the law enforcement system is actually a whitewashing system intended to create the illusion of investigations. A-Shteiwi is the latest victim of this policy, but unless it is changed, it is only a matter of time before the next victim is added to the list.

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