A throng of males clutching the physique of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy marched by means of a city within the occupied West Financial institution in direction of the kid’s remaining resting place on Friday, a day after his dad and mom say he died from concern of armed Israeli troopers.
Rayan Suleiman, with vivid eyes and a backpack emblazoned with an animated racing automobile, was strolling residence from college on Thursday when his household stated he and his brothers have been chased by Israeli troopers.
After the boys bolted residence, the troops banged furiously on the door and threatened to arrest them. Simply moments later, Rayan, the youngest of the three brothers, was lifeless.
Rayan’s cousin, Mohammed Suleiman, instructed Al Jazeera that upon his arrival at his home, Rayan was chased by the troopers who have been yelling at him.
“The troopers shouted at him that he’s [a] stone thrower,” he stated. “He ran away from one aspect, and the soldier met him from the opposite aspect [of the house]. Rayan noticed the soldier in entrance of him, and was shocked and dropped lifeless out of concern,” he stated.
Hadeel Salman, a neighbour and witness, stated Israeli troopers have been “getting into all instructions in search of any little one they might discover”.
“The troopers even summoned my younger brother – they instructed him he threw stones at them and wanted to be arrested,” Salman instructed Al Jazeera. “He insisted he had nothing to do with it.”
The story unfold throughout the West Financial institution, offering an emotive focus for fury over Israel’s army ways.
The US State Division demanded an investigation, whereas the European Union stated it was “shocked” by Rayan’s “tragic dying”.
Pictures of Rayan’s tiny, lifeless physique below a sheet within the hospital grew to become a potent new image in a single day. His dying got here a day after the deadliest Israeli incursion because the army escalated its crackdown on elements of the West Financial institution earlier this yr.
The Israeli army has denied any violence within the interplay with Rayan’s household, saying that only one officer went to the household’s home after recognizing youngsters throwing stones.
Richard Hecht, a army spokesman, stated the officer spoke in a “very calm method” with Rayan’s father and left.
“There was no violence, no entry into the home,” Hecht stated.
‘Cardiac arrest’
Yasser Suleiman, Rayan’s father, additionally instructed The Related Press information company on Friday that Rayan had collapsed after he noticed the Israeli troopers who chased him seem at his entrance door.
The boy’s father stated he was attempting to purpose with the troopers, who accused his youngsters of throwing rocks. The troopers threatened to return at evening and arrest all three youngsters, together with Rayan’s older brothers, aged eight and 10, Suleiman stated. Amid the chaos, Rayan fell on the ground, unconscious.
Medical doctors at a hospital in Beit Jala, a Palestinian city south of Jerusalem, couldn’t resuscitate him. A paediatric specialist, Mohamed Ismail, stated Rayan was wholesome and had no earlier medical circumstances.
“Essentially the most possible state of affairs of what occurred is that below stress, he had extra adrenaline secretion, which brought on the rise of his heartbeat,” Ismail stated. “He developed cardiac arrest.”
A forensic physician is at the moment conducting an post-mortem on Rayan.
On Friday, a crowd of mourners thronged his physique exterior his stone home in Tequa, a Palestinian city that borders an unlawful Jewish settlement with some 4,000 Israelis.
“God is nice!” they shouted, some jogging to remain forward of his small physique on the picket pallet. “Oh Rayan, mild of the attention!”
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Tequa, stated whereas Israeli media reported that troopers have been in search of stone throwers, “individuals right here say that even when youngsters have been throwing stones, what hurt would a seven-year-old pose to troopers who’re armed to their enamel?”
“They are saying the principle objective that Israel needs is to instil concern and management amongst Palestinians residing below army occupation,” Ibrahim stated.
Shortly after the funeral, confrontations between Palestinians and armed Israeli troopers broke out in Tequa.
Regardless of the anger and disappointment that has overcome the residents of the Palestinian city, Israeli troopers continued to conduct patrols, roaming across the streets since Friday morning, in line with an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent.
Individually, not less than 9 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli forces throughout the West Financial institution on Friday.