Anger has grown among the international community over Israeli soldiers’ killing of two Palestinian teenagers caught on CCTV.
Activists said the video, caught on camera during a large protest for the Nakba Day on May 15, was an evidence of Palestinian children’s suffering.
“It’s excellent to have so much coverage on an incident that’s very very emblematic of what Palestinian children face as part of the occupation,” said Brad Parker from the Palestinian rights group Defense for Children International.
Musaab Nuwarah, 20, and Mohammed Udeh, 17, were shot during the demonstration marking the 66th anniversary of the Nakba Day, or the Day of Catastrophe, outside Ofer prison near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
Palestinian activist Mostafa Barghouti said the video could be used as evidence for Israeli violence against Palestinian children at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Israel is committing crimes against Palestinian children,… the Palestinian people and the occupied territories and it has no respect to international law whatsoever,” Barghouti added.
On Tuesday, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, the assistant UN secretary general for political affairs, called for an “independent and transparent” probe into the circumstances surrounding the boys’ deaths.
Following the release of the video by Defense for Children International, the Israeli army said live fire was not used against the Palestinians and that only “riot dispersal” methods were used as the protest had turned violent.
However, evidence shows there was no provocation at the moment the teenage boys were shot dead.
The West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967. There are hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank which have made life difficult for Palestinians.
The Israeli military also raids Palestinian houses in the West Bank on a regular basis to arrest activists and civilians - mostly without any charges.
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