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Israel accused of killing two Palestinian teenagers in clashes

20 May 2014 22:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A Palestinian human rights group on Tuesday accused Israel of unlawfully killing two Palestinian teenagers during clashes in the West Bank last week, APA reports quoting XInhua.

Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI- Palestine) released video footage showing two Palestinian teens being shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes following a demonstration marking the Palestinian Nakba Day on May 15 in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"The images captured on video show unlawful killings where neither child presented a direct and immediate threat to life at the time of their shooting," Rifat Kassis, executive director of the Palestine section, said in a press statement.

Kassis added that the killings may amount to war crimes, urging the Israeli authorities to conduct serious, impartial and thorough investigations to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

Nadeem Siam Nawara, 17, and Mohammad Mahmoud Odeh Abu Daher, 16, were both fatally shot in the chest with live ammunition near Ofer military prison in Beitunia town, near Ramallah.

The boys were participating in a demonstration near the prison to commemorate Nakba Day. Nakba means "catastrophe" in Arabic, and Palestinians use Nakba Day to mark the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the displacement of Palestinian refugees.

"Israeli forces continue to use excessive force and recklessly fire live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets on unarmed protesters, including children, killing them with impunity," Kassis said.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian government urged for an international investigation, accusing the Israeli army of murdering the two children in cold blood.

However, the Israeli army rejected the accusations.

An Israeli spokesperson told Xinhua that a preliminary investigation determined that live fire was not used by security forces, adding that the incident remains under investigation.

She also said that the video clip, which was released Tuesday has been edited, and doesn't document the full extent of the event, nor does it reflect the violent nature of the riot. The use of live ammunition by Israeli soldiers on unarmed Palestinian civilians, including children, has concerned human rights groups for some time.

In February, Amnesty International released a report finding that the Israeli army used reckless force throughout the West Bank.

According to DCI-Palestine data, the deaths on Thursday raise the number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in 2014 to four.

DCI-Palestine is a national section of the international nongovernmental child rights organization and movement, Defence for Children International.