Grand Forks Herald · Grand Forks, North Dakota · 22 July 1993

CP-1993-004

Palestinian children in deadly tug of war

In the Mideast

Karin Laub, Associated Press, Jebaliya, Occupied Gaza Strip

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Transcribed from the clipping

“232 Palestinian minors have been killed by troops in occupied lands since 1987… JEBALIYA, Occupied Gaza Strip — Ten-year-old Issat Matar was flying a homemade kite on a dusty square when a playmate threw a stone at two passing Israeli army jeeps.

Palestinian witnesses say the jeeps stopped, a soldier climbed down and fired at the fleeing boys, wounding Issat in the back of the head. Issat died Tuesday, two days later, becoming the 41st Palestinian under age 16 to be shot dead in the occupied lands since December.

The sharp increase in shooting deaths of Palestinian minors is fueling mutual distrust at a time when Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are at a deadlock. Each side on Wednesday accused the other of using children as a tool to heat up the atmosphere in the talks.

Deputy Defense Minister Motta Gur, defending the army actions against left-wing critics in Parliament, claimed the Palestinians were intentionally sending their children to the front lines of Palestinian protests. He bristled at suggestions that soldiers deliberately shot at children. ‘It’s a blood libel,’ Gur said.

The Israeli human rights organization Betselem said last week that, until June 8, 232 Palestinian minors have been killed by troops in occupied lands since the Palestinian uprising began in this refugee camp on Dec. 9, 1987. Betselem said troops increasingly use live ammunition, even when children are present.

It said that of 38 children killed between December and June 8, only six were shot dead in situations that posed a danger to soldiers’ lives. The army doesn’t dispute the death toll.

But an army statement said soldiers are not permitted to shoot at anyone under 15 and that most children killed were in ‘large rioting crowds, near armed terrorists . . . or in circumstances where soldiers didn’t know children were there.’… ‘I want to be like the masked men, but I’m also afraid of them,’ said 13-year-old Khalil Madhoun.

Among the adults, there is great bitterness. ‘I cannot forgive the Israelis for what they have done, even if there will be peace,’ said Issat’s aunt… On top of the closet in Issat’s room stood the octagonal skeleton of a kite that Issat was making. It was like the light blue and pink one he was flying on Sunday.”

Context added by this archive

The figures are an Israeli human rights organization’s and the army does not dispute the toll. The army’s own explanation is printed beside them.

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