Description

Photo:
Scene. Published by Maan News

Illustrative photo. An Israeli Policeman prepares to fire a sponge-tipped bullet during a Nakba Day demonstration in East Jerusalem, May 15, 2013. (Haim Schwarczenberg) Published by 972Mag
_____

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Three Palestinians, including an 11-year-old boy, were injured Monday evening when Israeli forces raided Shufat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem, sparking violent clashes.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that the child was evacuated in a moderate condition to Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem after Israeli forces shot him in the forehead with a rubber-coated steel bullet.

A man in his 60s and another resident who was not identified further were also treated on the scene after they were shot with rubber bullets. Several others suffered from severe tear gas inhalation.

Spokesman for the Fatah movement in Shufat Thaer Fasfous said that Israeli forces had stormed the camp through its main entrance in large numbers and deployed heavily in the refugee camp’s streets, causing clashes to erupt between local youth and Israeli troops.

An Israeli police spokesperson told Ma’an via telephone that he was “not familiar” with the incident.

Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Due to the typically aggressive nature of the raids, clashes often erupt between local Palestinian youth who throw stones and are met in response with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas, often resulting in serious, sometimes fatal, injuries.

Rights groups have routinely condemned Israeli authorities for their use of excessive force against Palestinians during clashes, particularly in refugee camps, during incidents that did not warrant a violent response.

Shufat refugee camp is located in northeastern Jerusalem within Israel's municipal boundaries of the city, but is encircled on three sides by Israel’s separation wall, forcing residents to pass through a congested military checkpoint to access the rest of Jerusalem where most claim residency status.
____

By Edo Konrad |Published October 4, 2017 by 972Mag

The Israeli army shot an 11-year-old Palestinian boy in the head with a rubber bullet Monday night during a raid on Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that the child was evacuated in a moderate condition to Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem after Israeli forces shot him in the forehead with a rubber-coated steel bullet.

According to Ma’an News Agency, the boy was one of three Palestinians wounded by rubber bullets after Israeli forces entered the camp, leading to clashes with local youth. The boy was evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center. Two other Palestinians, including a 60-year-old man, were also wounded by rubber bullets. Ma’an reported that an Israeli police spokesperson said he was “not familiar” with the incident.

This is certainly not the first time Israeli forces have shot and severely wounded Palestinian children with riot dispersal weapons. In December 2014, Israeli troops shot five-year-old Muhammad Jamal Ubeid with a sponge-tipped bullet as he was stepping off a school bus near his home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya. In May 2015, Jerusalem Police shot a 10-year-old boy in the eye during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp. In November 2016, 15-year-old Fares Bayed was shot in the head by a rubber bullet outside Jalazun refugee camp in the West Bank. He remained in a vegetative state for several months until he died in a Ramallah hospital. There are countless other examples.

Israelis rarely hear about such stories because the media tends not to give them much prominence. In the case of Monday night’s shooting, not a single Israeli outlet covered the incident. Can anyone imagine the same kind of radio silence had the roles been reversed and it were a Palestinian who shot an 11-year-old Israeli child in the head with a rubber bullet?

h/t Idan Landau