16-year-old boy shot and killed by Israeli forces in West Bank
A total of four Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank in less than 36 hours.
Jerusalem24– A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Al-Midya west of Ramallah on Thursday afternoon.
Odeh Mohammad Odeh Sadaqa is the fourth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank in less than 36 hours, and the fourteenth child in 2022.
According to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Odeh was walking with two friends about 100 meters from his home when Israeli forces deployed in the area opened fire on them. Odeh was struck in the back with a single bullet that hit his heart and exited through the chest, as he and his friends attempted to flee. He was transferred to Ramallah Hospital in a private car in critical condition and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
The head of Al-Midya village council, Ragheb Sadaqa, said that Odeh was shot by the soldiers even though he posed no danger. Sadaqa further denied that Odeh had been shot during confrontations with Israeli forces, saying instead that he had only wandered in an area close to Israel’s separation wall.
Sadaqa said that Al-Midya has for several days been subjected to a military campaign by the occupation army, with civilians being arrested or shot in the vicinity of the separation wall and agricultural fields being set on fire.
Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCI-P, said in a statement: “Israeli forces’ impunity is on full display as Palestinian children continue to be targets and the international community has nothing to offer other than empty words.”
“Palestinian children will continue to be targeted. They will continue to be unlawfully killed with impunity without actual justice and accountability.”
