On November 20, at around 23:30 on Thursday, Israeli forces raided the Kafr ‘Aqab village, north of occupied East Jerusalem, deployed along Jerusalem–Ramallah Street. Israeli military vehicles were stationed near Sikal intersection, while a number of Israeli soldiers were positioned in front of the “Shish Shawarma” building, and an Israeli sniper climbed the building’s fourth floor.

The Israeli forces killed two Palestinian civilians: a child and a young man, shortly after midnight on Friday, November 20.

According to information collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) staff:

• At approximately 00:00, on Friday, the Israeli forces heavily fired stun grenades under the pretext that one of the soldiers had been attacked with stones, sparking limited clashes in the area.

• About twenty minutes later, an Israeli sniper stationed in a nearby residential building opened fire at Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayikh (16) while he was on the main street, approximately 50 meters away from the sniper’s position. The child was shot with a live bullet in the chest and was then transported by the village’s residents in a private vehicle to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.

• About twenty minutes after the first incident, the Israeli sniper reopened fire on other people in the same area, wounding one in the foot, while another, ‘Amr Khaled Ahmed al-Marbou‘ (18), was shot in the chest with a live bullet. ‘Amr was initially taken to the nearby Daa’ al-Shifa Medical Center before being transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex, where Sami Mashayikh and ‘Amr al-Marbou‘ were pronounced dead at around 01:00.

According to PCHR the child, the teenager, and the events in the village posed no danger or threat to the soldiers’ lives; therefore, there was no justification for the excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians. Oday al-Shurfa, a friend of Marbou, told AFP he witnessed the incident, which occurred during clashes between Israeli forces and local Palestinians. "He was just standing there, not holding or throwing stones -- just like the others,". Marbou was hit "in the chest, in the heart. He collapsed and was martyred on the spot,". Anotehr relative of Marbou told AFP: "He was with four others; one of them was also killed, another is in critical condition," and another suffered a serious hand injury."What kind of brutality is this?" she said.

Investigation of Defense for Children- Palestine:

"Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh, 15, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper on November 20 around 11:30 p.m. in the Palestinian town of Kafr Aqab, north of Jerusalem in the central occupied West Bank. Sami was playing with his friends in the neighborhood when Israeli forces raided the area. An Israeli sniper took up a position on the roof of the Al-Rajih Medical Center and opened fire toward a group of children and youths in the vicinity. Sami was struck by a bullet in the back that exited through his chest near his heart, causing a severe penetrating wound and significant bleeding. He was shot from a distance of about 50 meters (164 feet) and left bleeding on the ground for 10 minutes, as a sniper targeted anyone who attempted to reach him. Following the raid, Sami was taken to Al-Shifa Hospital in Kafr Aqab and then transferred to the Ramallah Medical Complex, where he was pronounced dead around 1 a.m. Sami usually went out in the evenings to play with his friends, as he owned an electric scooter that he used daily. On the evening of the 20th, he went out with his friends as usual, but they heard that a military operation was present in their neighborhood. Sami returned home to put his scooter away, then went back out of curiosity to see what was happening. As soon as he reached the area, he was immediately shot, according to his relative."

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP, states that: “After more than two decades of collecting documentation of Palestinian children killed by Israeli soldiers, it is clear that soldiers kill these children simply because they want to,”. “They know that they will face no consequences from their superior officers, government officials, or anyone in the international community for killing a Palestinian child.”

Israeli spin:

The operation, according to Israeli police, was aimed at what it described as “hostile elements seeking to harm security forces and provoke violent disorder.” Police came under attack by stone-throwing and fireworks during the operation.

Funeral:

Several hundred people, mostly young men, took part in the funeral processions for Marbou and Mashayekh on Noember 21, clapping and chanting. The deceased were draped in Palestinian flags with their heads covered with the traditional black and white Palestinian keffiyeh. Relatives recited prayers around the bodies.

Victim names:

1. Amr Khaled Ahmed al-Marbou, 18,
2. Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh, 15.