Palestine Calls For Accountability For Israel’s Child Killings As IDF Clears Self Of Wrongdoing In Recent Death

As Israel clears itself of responsibility towards the killing of a 7-year-old Palestinian child, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged the United Nations on Monday to push for accountability on Israel for the killing of Palestinian children.

The death of Rayan Suleiman, 7, who was allegedly chased by Israeli soldiers before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest episode while the soldiers interviewed his father, was allegedly not the fault of the soldiers in the encounter, as Israel closed its investigation on Thursday denying that any violence had happened during the encounter, according to the AP News.

Suleiman’s death has triggered a mass emotion of sadness for Palestinians, with hundreds of people coming to his funeral to pay their respects.

On Monday, another Palestinian child, 12-year-old Mahmoud Samoudi, died in the hospital weeks after being shot by Israeli Defense Force soldiers during a raid in Jenin that killed four Palestinians and injured 40 others, the Jerusalem Post reported.

His death has caused mass grieving in Jenin, with a funeral procession of mourners carrying his coffin, which was wrapped with a Palestinian flag.

In response to these deaths, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the United Nations calling for accountability towards the Israeli military’s penchant for killing Palestinian children, saying that over 44 kids have been “willfully killed” by Israeli forces this year alone, the New Arab reported.

“Israel deliberately targets Palestinian children and minors with the stated aim of killing and maiming them, thus denying them their right to life,” the letter said. “Children must never be killed or maimed. The State of Palestine warns that Israel's escalating crimes and deliberate targeting of Palestinian children will continue unabatedly and exponentially if accountability is not urgently and effectively pursued.”

Israel has been widely-criticized by human rights organizations for its harsh attacks on Palestinian civilians, with many saying that soldiers “routinely arrest children and teenagers during night raids.”

More than 100 Palestinians, mostly militants but also many youths and other civilians, have been killed by these attacks.