Human Rights and Democracy Media Center- SHAMS, affirms that the murder crime of a 14 year old child (Khaled Samer Al- Zaaneen) in Beit Hanina- Jerusalem, on Wednesday 30/8/2023, is a profound violation of International Humanitarian Law. The Israeli police shot him dead, close to the train station, in Al- Musrara, and was left bleeding, for a long time, till death.
SHAMS Center condemns the crime of the Israeli police, which serves as a profound violation of the International Human Rights Law. The crime violates the Fourth Geneva Convention that protects civilians under armed conflicts and protects children on the basis of being civilians and having no role in the armed conflicts. Additionally, the crime violates the 1989 Convention on Child Rights, which protects children and ensures their rights including the right to life.
SHAMS Center affirms that the crime of the Israeli police against the child Khaled Al- Zaaneen, is a clear interpretation of the criminal policy applied by the racist Israeli government against Palestinians. The natural role of the police is to solve the disputes, between civilians, but not to murder an armless child. The story started as a dispute between the child and some settlers about sitting on the waiting chairs for the train. The settlers assaulted the child physically and when the police officers came to the scene, they shot the Palestinian child dead.
The Center stresses that the Israeli army and Police crimes against Palestinians in general and Jerusalemites, in particular, are a clear manifestation of the ethnic cleansing, uprooting, and murdering policies applied by the occupation state against Palestinian people. The Israeli government is applying policies to uproot Jerusalemites and Judaize the City. The Israeli Government is intended to ensure abolishing the Palestinian features of the City.
SHAMS Center calls upon the International Childhood Organizations and the foreign consuls and ambassadors in Jerusalem, to utilize their power and press on the Israeli occupation state to end its ongoing violations and crimes against Palestinian children
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