“SHAMS” Center for Human Rights and Democracy asserts that the occupation’s execution of two teenagers, 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat from the Aqaba Jaber camp in Jericho governorate on Saturday the 1st of June, 2024 and 17-year-old Mohammad Al-Baytar on Sunday, the 2nd of June, 2024, who was injured during the occupation’s raid on Aqaba Jaber camp in Jericho.
They were subsequently arrested while wounded, with his martyrdom announced this morning which constitutes a deliberate crime and targeting of a group of Palestinian children. The detention of Ahmed Hamidat’s body after his martyrdom, the prevention of ambulance access, and the arrest of the wounded child Muhammad Al-Baytar, later announced to have been martyred, reflect the extent of hostility, insistence on killing, and inhuman treatment by the Israeli occupation.
“SHAMS” Center emphasizes that the ongoing and persistent raids on Palestinian camps in the West Bank clearly indicate forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian citizens from their camps. The recent surge in looting and raiding of the camps, especially after 7/10/2023, aims to pressure civilians and eradicate the popular support for the Palestinian national movement, which advocates for legitimate Palestinian rights, including the right of return and self-determination, based on international legitimacy decisions such as Resolution No. (194) of 1948 and Resolution No. (3236) of 1974.
“SHAMS” Center strongly criticizes the international and institutional silence regarding the systematic targeting of Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation. This targeting includes acts such as killing, execution, arrest, denial of education, movement restrictions, and confiscation of all aspects of childhood that should be enjoyed by these children, just like any other children around the world. This silence, maintained by countries and institutions claiming to prioritize children’s rights, reveals a clear double standard, lack of neutrality, and credibility in their approach.
Their responses seem to be influenced by the nationality of the victim or the perpetrator. When it concerns the Israeli occupation, there is a noticeable silence about these crimes, whereas if it involves any other Third World country. “SHAMS” Center witnesses statements, condemnations, and interventions from those countries and institutions, ultimately undermining their credibility and impartiality in the eyes of the global population.
“SHAMS” Center asserts that the targeting of Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly the 1989 International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 38 of the Convention states that State parties commit to respecting the rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts related to children, and to ensure compliance with these rules.
According to their obligations under international humanitarian law, State parties must take all practical measures to ensure the protection and care of children affected by armed conflict). This also violates the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, as Article 14 of the Convention specifies (the parties to the conflict, after the outbreak of hostilities, should establish recovery and safety zones and sites in their territories or in occupied territories, if necessary, organized to protect the wounded, sick, disabled, elderly, children under fifteen, pregnant women, and mothers of children under seven).
“SHAMS” Center urges the high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions, the special rapporteur for the Human Rights Council, the representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and UNICEF to take urgent action and exert pressure on the occupying government to halt its violations against Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territories.