Gaza/ West Bank /PNN  - 

Palestinian children have been facing a genocidal war waged by the state and army of Israel in recent weeks, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem. Palestinian children are subjected to various forms of killing, torture, and persecution, ranging from airstrikes in Gaza to killings in the West Bank, culminating in their detention.

A report prepared by the Palestinian News Network (PNN) as part of Investment in human rights project conducted by Al Rowwad Cultural and Arts Society, reveals that one of the main focuses of this aggression is targeting Palestinian children through various means, including airstrikes on their homes in Gaza, as well as sniper attacks, killings, and arrests in the West Bank.

Children Targeted in the War on Gaza

The report indicates that the Israeli warplanes targeted children in their supposed safe homes in Gaza, which are designated as civilian residential areas by the covenants and norms of the United Nations, intended to spare them from war operations. However, Israel persisted, bombing hospitals and places of worship in its ongoing war against Palestinians since 1948, and intensified after October 7th.

The over 6,000 children who have lost their lives in the Israeli aggression, buried, and joined by several thousand still under the rubble of their homes bombed by the occupation, alongside tens of thousands of wounded, mostly women and children, highlight the urgent need for serious efforts to protect them and hold Israeli war criminals accountable.

Thirteen-year-old Marah Jamal Mohammed Abdulhameed, who was rescued from under the rubble of her home due to Israeli airstrikes, recounts playing with her friends and neighbors' daughters when the house and the neighborhood were bombarded with rockets.

After being pulled out from under the debris, Marah says, "I was sitting, playing with the girls in the neighborhood, happy with my age around the house. Suddenly, I felt myself under something black, covered in dust, and everything closed in on me. That's when I started screaming until someone pulled me out. I kept calling until I felt them removing the rubble, and they told me to watch out. Indeed, I watched, but I believed in God."

She adds, "Now I'm in good health, but the painful part is that I was with my family, living happily with them, but after the bombing, they disappeared, and I couldn't find them anymore. But, thanks to God, I still have my three brothers."

Asked about her feelings in this traumatic experience, Marah tearfully says, "I felt great fear," expressing her fear but finding comfort in the presence of her brothers with her now.

Palestinian children in the West Bank are not in a better situation than their counterparts in Gaza, as hardly a day passes without recording the killing of children by Israeli occupation authorities, either through sniper fire from its military towers surrounding camps, cities, and villages or during daily incursions.

The mother of the martyr Ahmed Sdouq began her statement by expressing gratitude to God and conveyed her confusion, saying, "I don't know where to start." She revealed that Ahmed was born 15 years after the persistent request of his older brother, who wanted a younger sibling, not wanting to remain alone in the family. When he arrived in this world, joy and happiness filled our home, and his brother requested that he be named "Ahmed," saying, "I am the one who wished for him, and I want to name him."

She added that Ahmed was very affectionate to his family, especially his siblings, and that he was intelligent and diligent in his studies, noting, "Ahmed would not go to school unless both his father and I accompanied him."

She mentioned that he was promised a scholarship to Russia for high achievers after completing his high school education. He was loved by his teachers and friends, and she sighed, saying, "May God deprive them of the light of their eyes as they deprived me of him." She continued with a tone filled with sorrow, thanking God that her son is alive in paradise, a divine promise, and she found solace in religious prayers, which alleviate her pain and provide support.

Referring to the day of his martyrdom on 19/10/2023, she said, "It was a very painful day that I will never forget, no matter how much time passes." In conclusion, as the one conducting the interview, I want to emphasize the tired voice, tearful tone, and mournful expressions of the mother of the martyr Ahmed.

The father of the martyr Ahmed Sdouq explained what happened to Ahmed before his martyrdom, saying, "On that night, the occupation forces stormed the Dheisheh camp, and Ahmed was following the news. With great concern, he woke his family from sleep and said to them, 'The army has stormed the camp and wants to arrest Gaza workers. Wake up!'" The reason for the occupation forces' invasion of the camp was their desire to arrest workers from Gaza who were working in the occupied territories. These workers were residents of the devastated Gaza Strip, and Ahmed sympathized with them.

He added that he went to confirm the presence of the occupation forces, and indeed, when he saw them about 200 meters from his house, he brought Ahmed and his younger brother Muhammad into the house out of fear for them. This occupation targets everyone and does not care about those in front of it; it kills children, women, and the elderly indiscriminately.

Ahmed's father continued his explanation of what happened, saying that a private car belonging to a civilian passed by our house, and the Israeli army fired a tear gas canister at it. This canister entered the house's balcony, causing us to suffer from suffocation. Ahmed then opened the windows, trying to let the smoke out. After some time, we heard reports that the occupation forces had withdrawn from the camp, and Ahmed went to the balcony to confirm this.

The grieving father added, "At that moment, we heard the sound of a single, trivial bullet fired by a foolish Israeli sniper stealing the lives of children without mercy. This was the sound of the bullet that killed Ahmed in a moment, taking away his dreams, laughter, and soul."

The saddened father continued his narrative, saying, "After hearing the gunshot, I told my younger son to go and call his brother because the army had not withdrawn yet. After that, I heard the voice of my second son screaming and calling Ahmed's name. He saw him 'injured.' I ran to them, and I saw a 'laser' coming from an Israeli sniper stationed in front of our house targeting my second son. I pulled him inside out of fear for him and brought Ahmed, who was injured, into the house."

Second Execution and Refusal of Ambulance Transfer

"When I saw Ahmed's head injury, I completely lost hope and entrusted him to God. But after a few moments, I saw him move his right hand, filling my chest with hope. I performed artificial respiration for him, and there was a response in his breathing. Family members were screaming and calling for an ambulance, but the occupation forces prevented them from reaching, and this is documented in a video showing that the occupation pocket hit the ambulance and prevented it from entering the camp to save Ahmed.

After that, we transferred Ahmed by our neighbors' private car to the hospital, risking our lives in the brutal atmosphere of the invasion practiced by the occupation on the camp," Ahmed's father said. He sighed, saying, "We saw our son in a scene of his mysterious death, holding him in our hands, helpless." While walking, we met an ambulance and Ahmed was taken with it.

We reached the hospital, and the medical team tried to save Ahmed from his death, but the brutal bullet stole him, taking his soul to the sky, carrying with it the story of a child with dreams, friends, and laughter.

Children's Rights Organizations: Unprecedented Crimes Against Childhood

Human rights organizations, especially those focusing on children, have pointed out that unprecedented crimes against children are taking place. These crimes were not anticipated by those working in the field of children's rights, neither locally nor internationally, as the scale of targeting children is significantly broad.

In this context, Lawyer Khaled Quzmar, the General Director of the International Movement to Defend Palestinian Children, says that what is currently happening in Palestine is unprecedented and represents a genocide against children. He explains that there is no longer any safe place for childhood in Palestine, as these crimes accompany a political decision at the highest levels of the Israeli occupation state. This decision includes cutting off water, electricity, and medicine from the Gaza Strip and implementing it through the Israeli army's siege on the sector, preventing civilians from the essentials of life by destroying their homes in front of the media screens.

Quzmar points out that as an international movement for children's rights, working in this field for more than 30 years, they are no longer able to count the numbers of children killed by the occupation. They cannot keep up with this ongoing massacre, stating that if he mentioned a specific number now, it would change completely after an hour due to these continuous massacres, emphasizing that this situation is unprecedented.

Khaled Quzmar emphasized that through their global and parliamentary networks, along with civil society institutions, they are making an immediate appeal for a ceasefire and an end to the targeting of civilians in Gaza. Hospitals, in particular, have become the primary target of the occupation in the final days of this aggression.

Qazmar added that the international community has not dealt with the catastrophic event occurring according to the level of the event, exposing the hypocrisy and double standards it operates under. He considers this silence as complicity in these crimes, adding that the audacity of the major colonial powers lies in their immediate support, militarily, politically, and economically, to the Israeli occupation state.

He believes that this support and green light from the world prompted Israel to commit and continue these crimes. Quzmar called on the international community and everyone who believes in humanity to reconsider what is happening in Gaza. He urged them to see the crime of genocide, the supreme crime committed against humanity, emphasizing that these crimes were committed in World War II and Bosnia. Since then, the whole world has enacted international laws that criminalize them, and anyone involved.

Expressing his regret, he said, "Despite those who enacted these laws, this crime is now being committed in Palestine in partnership with those states." He pointed to the issue of public opinion and global change that occurred regarding the Palestinian issue, but he directed a question: "How many victims are needed for the Western world, specifically decision-makers, to wake up?"

Quzmar mentioned that hope is now evident in movements emerging in several European countries, in addition to committees in the United Nations supporting the Palestinians and commending them for the crimes of the occupation state. He added that they are holding onto these hands, hoping that they will continue this work for an immediate cessation of aggression and the provision of the essentials of life. He stated, "We are talking about 36 days under bombardment (from the time of this interview), then providing the necessities of life after the cessation of aggression, and then working with children specifically to help them overcome the psychological trauma they have experienced."

International Accountability and Urgent Appeal for Action

As a global movement for the defense of childhood, they are working to document these violations and crimes, continuing to follow up for accountability and holding the occupation accountable. Qazmar stressed that the international community must discuss the Palestinian issue and return to its roots to ensure the Palestinian right to determine their destiny, preventing the recurrence of such crimes.

Addressing the international community, Qazmar stated that the crime of genocide committed in Gaza, along with the accompanying war crimes in the West Bank against humanity, are international crimes prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Every signatory state is obliged to open judicial files and hold every state that violates it accountable. It is the responsibility of those states to open their judicial systems, and this is an entitlement given Israel's evasion of its crimes.

He emphasized that the International Criminal Court (ICC) must investigate these crimes and issue arrest warrants against the political and military leaders of the occupation. These individuals are no longer unknown, and the ICC prosecutor arrived at the Rafah crossing to conduct investigations.

Quzmar acknowledged that these investigations should happen similarly to those in Ukraine. The professionalism and speed with which they were conducted in the case of Ukraine led to the issuance of an arrest warrant against Russian President Putin. In the case of Palestinian children, many have been killed, and a significant number are detained in Israeli prisons, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention. This behavior is considered a war crime, and these detainees are subjected to investigation, torture, and isolation, in addition to thousands of Palestinians killed in front of cameras without any action from the prosecutor.

He added that the light given to Israel by the world has emboldened them in their crimes, allowing them to carry out genocide in front of cameras without fear. They are now bombing and besieging the homes of civilians and hospitals. He posed a question about the notion of self-defense, asking, "What kind of self-defense is this? Self-defense is for the occupied people, not for the occupier."