15 November 1997

Today, at 11:00 a.m., Israel’s Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital told the family of Ali Jawarish that their son, 7 years old*, had been declared brain-dead after being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier at close range near Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem on Monday. The family has decided to donate his organs.

Ali Jawarish was shot while he was standing near a group of stone-throwing children near Rachel’s Tomb. An Israeli soldier, from a distance of 15 meters, crouched, aimed and fired into the group of children, shooting Ali in the head. Israeli army regulations state that soldiers must not use rubber-coated metal bullets from a distance of less than 40 meters, and not against women, children or the elderly. After he was shot, according to witnesses, not one soldier went to the aid of the child. The child lay in the street for several minutes before a car was able to get through and take him to the hospital in Bethlehem.

From Bethlehem hospital he was taken to Makassed hospital in Jerusalem, which does not have the facilities to treat such a serious head injury. Makassed hospital then called Israel’s Hadassah Ein Karem hospital to tell them that they were transferring the child, but Hadassah hospital refused to take him at that time. Ali’s cousin Mohannad Ilayan, who was with Ali all the time while they were searching for medical treatment, stated that they took the child in an ambulance in any case to Hadassah, where in the emergency room they were turned away. Ali was then transferred to Ramallah hospital, which also could not treat him. Finally Hadassah hospital agreed to admit him, and on 12 November he was admitted to this facility already in a state of near brain-death.

LAW again condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of lethal force by the Israeli military in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Since the Intifada, more than 40 Palestinians, including over 20 children, have been killed by these rubber-coated metal bullets. LAW demands a full investigation into the murder of this child, and for the Israeli military to end the use of the lethal rubber-coated metal bullet.

** The media previously reported that Ali was 9 years old.

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.