April 10, 2017: Jassem Nakhla, 17, died from serious wounds he suffered on March 23, 2017, after Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian car near the al-Jalazoun refugee camp north of Ramallah in the West Bank.
His friend, Mohammad Hattab, 17, was instantly killed during the attack, and Jassem had been clinically dead since his injury and was on life support. Their two other friends remain in comas after being shot in the upper body.
The Israeli army claimed its soldiers who were stationed on a fortified military tower had opened fire at the car after its passengers “hurled Molotov cocktails at the tower.”
A witness told Defence for Children International (DCI) that the soldiers opened fire on the car after it stalled near the settlement of Beit El, and added that the 17-year-old driver was shot at after he stepped out of the vehicle. He reentered the car and tried to start it, but it didn’t start, and the soldiers approached the car and opened fire on the four children, according to the witness.
Palestinian government spokesperson Tareq Rishmawi called on the international community to intervene and provide protection to Palestinian people living under the ongoing Israeli occupation, and added that the soldiers have killed six Palestinian children since the beginning of this year. Jassem was from the al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah. Source: IMEMC