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Photo:
Ruqaya Ahmad Odeh Jahalin, age 4. Published by IMEMC News

Palestinian Medical Complex. Source: Wikidata
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by IMEMC News
Jan 16, 2024

On Tuesday evening, Israeli occupation authorities released the body of the slain 4-year-old Palestinian girl, Ruqaya Ahmad Odeh Jahalin after withholding the body for nine days.

Israeli soldiers opened fire, on January 7, at two vehicles at the Beit Iksa checkpoint northwest of occupied East Jerusalem, shooting the child in the back, killing her.

According to Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), the child and her mother passed through the military roadblock, while the vehicle behind them did not stop for inspection.

Soldiers opened fire at both vehicles, killing the girl in one vehicle, in addition to Mohammad Mizyed Abu Eid, and his wife, Doha Nabeeh Abu Eid in another.

The army confiscated the bodies of all of the slain Palestinians, and continue to withhold the husband and wife.

The accountability program director at DCIP, Ayed Abu Eqtaish, said “Israeli forces opened fire with no regard for Ruqaya’s life. This is just one example of the impunity enjoyed by Israeli forces emboldened in an environment where the international community refuses to hold them accountable.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posed the question on the “X” platform, “What did they do with the body?” adding, “Why did they keep it? Do they have the right to do so? And will they apologize to the child’s family?”

Occupation authorities handed over the body of the slain child, which was then transported to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.

Later in the evening, family members and loved ones gathered together at the Palestine Medical Complex, and carried the body of the slain child to her home in the town of Beit Hanina, north of occupied Jerusalem.

Loved ones said their final goodbyes, and the funeral prayer was performed at the local mosque, before her body was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery.