Palestinian boy killed by direct shot of flare-bomb
Photo of 15-year-old Abdel Rahman al-Dabbagh, provided by his family.
No coverage, no accountability – Palestinian child’s brutal death at hands of Israeli soldiers
By Ben White, MEMO
October 5, 2016
On Friday 9 September, dozens of Palestinians demonstrated next to the Gaza Strip’s border fence near the Al-Bureij refugee camp, protesting Israel’s ongoing occupation and its various crimes.
Here is how Reuters reported what happened next: “An 18-year-old Palestinian was killed during a rock-throwing protest near the Gaza-Israel border on Friday and a Palestinian health official said Israeli soldiers shot him, but the Israeli army said troops were not responsible.” [He was 15, not 18, see B’Tselem, Soldier kills Palestinian teen who posed no threat by firing flare bomb at him across Israel-Gaza fence]
At the time, a Gaza health ministry spokesperson said that Abdel-Rahman Al-Dabbagh (who was actually just 15-years-old) was killed “by an Israeli bullet to the head.” The Israeli military, however, claimed that forces only used “tear gas” to disperse “dozens of rioters.”
The army statement added: “Following a preliminary review, the Israel Defence Forces did not conduct the reported shooting.”
So who killed Abdel-Rahman Al-Dabbagh? And how was he killed? Almost four weeks have now passed since the teenager’s death. Thanks to the work of Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights workers, a clearer – and highly disturbing – picture has now emerged of how he was killed.
The following account is based on information published by Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), [below] B’Tselem, Al-Haq and Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).
The demonstration that particular Friday began in the early afternoon, and continued for some hours. None of those participating (some 60-100 protesters) was armed. The protest took place east of Al-Bureij camp, where Abdel-Rahman was a resident.
During the afternoon, Palestinian youth threw stones and a few unexploded tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces on previous occasions. Protesters, Abdel-Rahman included, also cut the barbed wire that lies ten metres from the border fence and ran back and forth as Israeli soldiers repelled them.
The canister of the M583A1 cartridge fired by Israeli forces that struck and killed Abdel-Rahman al-Dabbagh. Photo: DCIP
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers positioned by military jeeps or on dirt mounds attacked the protesters with tear gas canisters, stun grenades, flare bombs and live ammunition.
Shortly before he was hit, just after 7pm, Abdel-Rahman asked one of his friends to take a picture of him. He was around 15-20 metres from the fence. The boy was making a “V” sign when one of the soldiers came forward, knelt down and fired a flare cartridge directly at him.
The flare bomb ignited on impact and Abdel-Rahman fell down, his head on fire. Israeli soldiers initially prevented his friends from approaching, including by firing warning shots.
Abdel-Rahman was struck in the forehead above his left eye with an illumination flare cartridge. “There was blood on his hands and chest, and coming out from above his left eye. There was a big, black hole above his eye”, described an eyewitness.
After the flare had burned out, Abdel-Rahman was carried to an ambulance, but paramedics could not resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.
The impact of the flare grenade, fired directly at his head from a short distance, fractured his skull leading to haemorrhaging in the brain in addition to external burns. An x-ray image showed the flare punctured and lodged in Abdel-Rahman’s skull above his left eyebrow.
The flare in question was a 40mm M583A1 White Star Parachute Illumination Cartridge, which is fired from an under-barrel grenade launcher rifle attachment. It is produced by US-based munitions company Chemring Ordnance, a subsidiary of the UK-based Chemring Group.
The flare, which weighs 0.22kg, is intended to illuminate an area of 200 metres in diameter or to mark a military target on the ground and burns for around 40 seconds. It is categorically not designed to be used in “crowd control” situations.
Israeli forces have repeatedly used brutal violence against unarmed protesters in the Gaza Strip in the last year; a week after the killing of Abdel-Rahman, soldiers shot a 17-year-old Palestinian in the leg with live ammunition during protests in the same area – he may never walk again.
More than 20 Palestinians have been killed in such Gaza border protests since 1 October 2015, and there are no Israeli military investigations into any of these deaths. According to DCIP official Ayed Eqtaish, Israeli forces “routinely misuse ‘less-lethal’ weapons and projectiles to directly target Palestinian children, killing and injuring them with impunity.”
The shocking killing of Abdel-Rahman highlights both the lack of Western media coverage when it comes to the Palestinian victims of Israeli forces’ violence, and the parallel absence of accountability for grave violations of international law and human rights by the Israeli army and its political leaders.
No coverage and no accountability means that the killing and maiming of Palestinians – including children – will only continue.
Israeli forces kill child with flare in Gaza
Abdel-Rahman al-Dabbagh, 15, was struck in the forehead on September 9 with a flare cartridge that ignited, setting him on fire and killing him.
From Defence for Children International-Palestine
October 04, 2016
A screenshot from video footage shows Abdel-Rahman, 15, lying on the ground with flames and smoke rising from his head. (Photo: DCIP)
Ramallah, October 4, 2016—Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenage boy with a flare during a protest east of al-Bureij refugee camp near Gaza’s border fence last month.
Abdel-Rahman al-Dabbagh, 15, was struck in the forehead above his left eye around 7 p.m. on September 9 with an illumination flare cartridge that ignited, setting him on fire and killing him. Israeli forces fired live ammunition, tear gas canisters, and flares at protesters gathered at the border fence from approximately 2:30 p.m. until sunset, Mohammad I., an eyewitness, told Defence for Children International – Palestine. Abdel-Rahman and other Palestinian youth threw stones toward Israeli forces on the other side of the border fence, as well as some unexploded tear gas canisters previously fired by Israeli forces at the protestors.
an Israeli soldier on the other side of the border fence knelt down and fired a flare cartridge directly at Abdel-Rahman
“Israeli forces routinely misuse ‘less-lethal’ weapons and projectiles to directly target Palestinian children, killing and injuring them with impunity,” said Ayed Eqtaish, DCIP’s Accountability Program director. “Rampant disregard for international law combined with no accountability ensures the situation will continue to deteriorate for Palestinian children.”
Around 7 p.m., an Israeli soldier on the other side of the border fence knelt down and fired a flare cartridge directly at Abdel-Rahman, Mohammad told DCIP. Abdel-Rahman was approximately 15-20 metres (50 – 65 feet) from the border fence when he collapsed to the ground and caught on fire, according to Mohammad.
“He was hurt on the left side of his face, near the left eyebrow, after the flare directly hit him,” said Mohmmad. “There was blood on his hands and chest, and coming out from above his left eye. There was a big, black hole above his eye.”
As the flare burned out, Mohammad and others ran to Abdel-Rahman and carried him to an ambulance. Paramedics were unable to resuscitate him. Abdel-Rahman was taken to Shuhada’ al-Aqsa hospital and pronounced dead upon arrival.
Markings on the flare fired by Israeli forces that afternoon reveal that it is a 40mm M583A1 White Star Parachute Illumination Cartridge, a parachute-suspended pyrotechnic projectile fired from an under-barrel grenade launcher rifle attachment. It is designed to illuminate an area of 200 metres (656 feet) in diameter, or to mark a military target on the ground. The projectile is produced by Chemring Ordnance and AMTEC Corporation, both US-based munitions company.
The flare has a built-in 4 to 5 second delay before the flare ignites and then burns for approximately 40 seconds. The flare measures approximately 13 cm (5.2 inches) and weighs 0.22 kg (0.49 lb). It is in the 1.4G hazard class, equivalent to a consumer firework.
An X-ray image shared with DCIP is consistent with this description and appears to show the flare punctured and lodged in Abdel-Rahman’s skull above his left eyebrow.
Video footage obtained by DCIP captured the moments after Abdel-Rahman was struck by the flare. It shows Abdel-Rahman lying on the ground with flames and smoke rising from his head. Two Israeli military vehicles and at least seven Israeli soldiers can be seen stationed on the Israeli side of the border fence. After the flare burns out, others at the scene carry Abdel-Rahman’s body away from the border fence. A charred puncture hole and massive bleeding are clearly visible on Abdel-Rahman’s forehead.
The footage shows that the incident took place as the sun was setting, when there was still adequate daylight, making the use of an illumination flare unnecessary.
An Israeli military statement following the incident claimed Israeli forces could not be responsible, since soldiers deployed in the area had only used tear gas to quell the protest.
In a separate incident, on September 16, Israeli soldiers shot F.M., 17, with live ammunition during clashes in the same area near Gaza’s border fence. F.M. sustained a serious injury that may prevent him from using his left leg again.
According to his sworn testimony, F.M. had been participating in clashes earlier but was not throwing stones at the time he was shot. F.M. sustained a life-altering injury to his pelvis and upper left thigh, as well as damage to a nerve in his left leg and ureter, the duct that passes urine from the kidney to the bladder. Doctors are still determining whether he will walk again.
The area where Abdel-Rahman was killed and F.M. was wounded is known as the “buffer zone,” and is the site of frequent clashes. In 2005, Israel unilaterally declared a long strip of Palestinian territory along the Gaza-Israel border a “no-go zone,” illegally restricting Palestinians from accessing their own lands. The exact range of the buffer zone is unclear and Palestinians often only know they have strayed into the buffer zone when Israeli soldiers across the border fence fire at them.
Accountability for shootings by Israeli forces is extremely rare, and Israel routinely defends or denies using lethal force against children. Only one incident, the fatal shooting of Nadeem Nawara, 17, by an Israeli border policeman in May 2014, has resulted in an investigation and indictment. The trial of the border policeman is currently ongoing.
Since October 2015, five Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza and another 52 killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, all but one at the hands of Israeli forces. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 177 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces in Gaza so far this year.