Human Rights and Democracy Media Center- SHAMS, asserts that targeting child Khaled Raed Arqawi (16 years old) in Ramallah, on Thursday 25/4/2024, is an indication of the Israeli insistence on targeting Palestinian children. The child was intentionally targeted and executed in cold blood with no respect given to human and legal considerations. Martyr Arqawi is from Jenin and he lives with his family in Ramallah.
The Center deplores the silence of the international community in front of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian children in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. The silence of the international community encourages the occupation to proceed with these crimes and does the feeling that the occupation can escape accountability and punishment. The international community is providing the occupation and its military leaders with impunity and protection against being litigated for their crimes in front of the international courts. Many countries are protecting Israeli war criminals to ensure that they are not persuaded in front of the international criminal courts and some other national courts, which have the power to examine cases outside their geographical mandate.
The Center affirms that the crime of murdering child Arqawi is a profound violation of international law and international human rights law. In particular, it violates the Geneva Fourth Convention (12/8/1949), which affirms special protection for children under war and armed conflicts, being civilians, and have no role in hostilities acts. Additionally, it violates the Convention on Child Rights (20/11/1989) in addition to violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10/12/1948).
The Center calls on the international community to provide protection for Palestinian children and neutralize them from the conflicted areas and the military clashes. Palestinian children should be given the right to enjoy normal life and live their leisure time in gardens and other places of playing. Palestinian children should be protected against hostilities that have been committed by the Israeli occupation for over 75 years.
SHAMS Center urges the Special UN Rapporteur on Children under armed Conflicts, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the OPT, the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF, governmental/non-governmental institutions, and the legal organizations interested in child rights, to fulfill their responsibilities and press on the occupation state, to halt its crimes against Palestinians in general and Palestinian children in particular.