Jerusalem
CNN
—
Thousands of Palestinians became out Friday to mourn a seven-year-old Palestinian boy who died, his father mentioned, whilst being chased by way of Israeli troops on Thursday – an account rejected by way of the Israeli military however which brought on america State Department to name for an investigation.
Rayyan Suleiman was once working clear of the warriors within the occupied West Bank village of Tekoa after Israeli infantrymen attempted to go into his uncle’s space, his father Yasser Suleiman instructed journalists.
“He was with my nephews and the neighbors’ children. They were all running away from the soldiers. [The soldiers] came to my brother’s house. I prevented them from getting into the house. I told them there is no one at home. They went back to look at the cameras and came back again to my house,” Suleiman mentioned. “Rayyan was panicking and ran away from the door behind the house.”
A “soldier ran after him until he died of fear,” the daddy mentioned. “I took him in the car to the hospital, yet they stopped me again to check the car although they saw him dead, he put the gun in my head and said that he needs to check the other house.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health mentioned the boy died of a “a heart condition, after he fell from a height.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disputed Suleiman’s account, pronouncing infantrymen didn’t run after kids and that no soldier stopped the daddy taking his son to the health facility. Israeli army spokesperson Richard Hecht mentioned infantrymen entered Tekoa after folks had been observed “throwing stones at vehicles on the road.”
“The soldiers didn’t run after kids. The company commander identified two kids on a balcony who were involved in the stone throwing, went up to the house, didn’t use any violence, spoke to the father at the door. After the company commander left, the tragic event happened,” Hecht mentioned, including {that a} “thorough inquiry is happening within the brigade.”
The US State Department mentioned it was once “heartbroken” over Suleiman’s demise.
“The US is heartbroken to learn of the death of an innocent Palestinian child,” State Department primary deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel mentioned Thursday. “As President [Joe] Biden and Secretary [Antony] Blinken have repeated a large number of instances, Palestinians and Israelis similarly should are living safely and securely and revel in equivalent measures of freedom and prosperity.
“We support a thorough and immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death, and I believe the IDF itself has also indicated it will be looking into what transpired as well,” Patel mentioned.
Thousands of mourners stuffed the streets of Tekoa on Friday to mourn Suleiman’s demise, chanting “we all die, and Palestine lives.” Suleiman’s frame was once wrapped in a Palestinian flag.
In August, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet “expressed alarm” on the top collection of Palestinians, together with kids, killed and injured within the occupied West Bank this 12 months. The August remark mentioned 20 Palestinian kids within the occupied territory were killed in 2022, together with “many incidents” the place Israeli forces used deadly drive.
There aren’t any allegations of the usage of deadly drive in opposition to Suleiman.
“Bachelet said the widespread use of live ammunition by Israeli forces in law enforcement operations across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2022 has led to an alarming increase in Palestinian fatalities,” the August remark mentioned.
“The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory has this year documented the killing of 74 Palestinians, including 20 children. In many incidents Israeli forces used lethal force in a manner that appeared to be in violation of international human rights law,” the remark added.
