September 29, 2022: Rayyan Yasser Suleiman, 7, died from a heart attack after Israeli soldiers chased the terrified child to his home, accusing him and his brother of throwing stones at them.
Initial reports indicated that the soldiers chased Rayyan and many other schoolchildren when the army invaded Tuqu town, southeast of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, before he fell from an altitude and died.
However, further investigations and testimonies, including one of his teachers, revealed that the soldiers literally scared the child to death when many soldiers stormed and ransacked his family’s home to abduct his brother.
One of his teachers said Rayan and dozens of children, and after a normal (except for the presence of the soldiers), were chased by the soldiers all the way to their homes or near their homes, causing severe anxiety attacks that caused Rayan to have a heart attack.
She added that the day was just as any other normal school day, but ended with Israeli soldiers chasing the children, and causing Rayyan to suffer a heart attack.
The Israeli army frequently invaded schools’ areas in several parts of the occupied West Bank, especially when the children head to their schools or when they walk back home.
Since Palestinian villages and towns are generally small, it is normal for schoolchildren to walk to school and walk back home.
The Israeli army claimed the soldiers wanted “question the parents about a stone-throwing incident. However, it is not unusual for the Israeli occupation army to abduct and interrogate small children.
The Health Ministry said Palestinian medics rushed Rayyan to the Emergency Department of Beit Jala governmental hospital, but he had no heartbeats, and all efforts to save his life failed.
After the child’s death, many soldiers invaded his family’s home and ransacked it before interrogating his parents and other Palestinians.
Israeli soldiers have killed 35 Palestinian children, 19 in the West Bank and 16 in the Gaza Strip, since the beginning of this year, the Health Ministry stated.
On the same day, the soldiers invaded a Palestinian school in the southern area of Hebron city, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, before attacking and injuring many schoolchildren and teachers.
A day earlier, the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians and injured forty-four, some seriously, in a massive invasion of Jenin, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
Rayyan was from Tuqu town, southeast of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. Source: IMEMC