Ramallah: Human Rights and Democracy Media Center- SHAMS, strongly condemns the crime of executing the child Qusay Al- Walaji in Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp- Jericho, by the Israeli Army. Child Al- Walaji, 16 years old, was shot dead on Tuesday 15/8/2023 during a raid of the Refugee Camp where in addition to him, another 25- year- old young man named Muhammad Njoum, was also shot dead.
SHAMS Center stresses that the crime in Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp is a war crime according to international law. It is a violation of the International Human Rights Law and Geneva Fourth Convention (1949) and its annexed optional protocol (1979), which protects civilians under armed conflicts. The Geneva Convention includes special protection for children as they are part of the civilian groups that have nothing to do with armed conflicts. Additionally, the crime is a violation of international human rights law, especially the Convention on Child Rights (1989) which provides protection for children and obligates state parties to ensure reasonable living standards for children.
The Center emphasizes that there has been a horrible increase in the percentage of targeting Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation since the beginning of 2023. Such a fact indicates clearly that there is a predetermined Israeli policy to target children, promoted by the Israeli official institution. It is clear that the principle of protective shooting is no longer applied by the Israeli army. The targets within all military operations should be military targets but not civilians, according to international rules and customs. Areas inhabited by civilians and so civil establishments like schools, medical centers, residential units, and public service facilities, should not be targeted during military operations.
SHAMS Center called upon unifying the efforts of all the Palestinian institutions to launch a campaign against the Israeli army for targeting Palestinian children on a daily basis. There should be efforts to address the international institutions to litigate the Israeli war criminals and publicize the applied criminal Israeli policy against Palestinian children.