Israeli occupation soldiers physically assaulted 10-year-old Palestinian boy in Qalqilya, a DCI report

[ 06/07/2008 - 10:43 AM ]

QALQILYA, (PIC)--

Defense for children international-Palestine section (DCI-PS) documented in a report a brutal physical assault on a 10-year-old boy called Ezzat, committed on June 11, 2008, by IOF troops seeking information on the location of a handgun, while he was in his father's shop selling fodder and eggs along with his youngest brother and sister in the Sanniriya village, near Qalqilya.

According to the report, the boy was repeatedly beaten, slapped and punched in the head and stomach for half an hour. He was deeply shocked and lost two of his teeth as a result of the assault.

One of the Israeli occupation soldiers threateningly shouted in Arabic, "Your father sent us to you to collect his gun", the terrified Ezzat responded: "My father does not own a gun". The soldier responded by slapping Ezzat repeatedly, then ordered his little brother and sister to leave the shop and forced him to search for the alleged gun in fodder sacks.

One of Ezzat’s friends realized that something was wrong and tried to enter the shop but was kicked by an Israeli occupation soldier standing at the door. Soon a group of local people gathered outside the shop and some of them also tried to enter the shop but were prevented from doing so by the soldier at the door.

After beating him severely in the stomach many times for not producing the nonexistent gun, Ezzat started screaming and crying out from pain and fear. One of the soldiers started making fun of Ezzat and imitated him crying.

After several minutes of physical abuse, a soldier abruptly grabbed him by his T-shirt and dragged him out of the shop. Ezzat asked the soldier if he could lock up his father’s shop but the soldier said he wanted it to remain open so that it could be looted. The soldier also threatened to put Ezzat in his jeep and take him away.

Ezzat was ordered to walk in front of the soldiers to his house as a gun was pointed at his back. The soldiers hit him several times on the nape along the way. Upon approaching his house Ezzat saw many Israeli occupation soldiers surrounding the house and a number of green military vehicles parked outside.

Inside the house, the Israeli occupation soldiers assaulted and strip searched the whole family including females and ransacked the furniture.

The DCI underlined that such Israeli acts fall within the definition of torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment as defined in the UN convention against torture to which Israel is a party, adding that the maltreatment of Ezzat and his family also infringes numerous other international conventions to which Israel is bound.

In another context, the health ministry in Gaza reported that the IOF troops killed 449 Palestinians including 66 children under age 17 and wounded about 4,000 others in the first half of 2008.

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