A throng of males clutching the physique of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy marched by a city within the occupied West Financial institution in the direction of the kid’s closing resting place on Friday, a day after his dad and mom say he died from worry of armed Israeli troopers.
Rayan Suleiman, with vibrant eyes and a backpack emblazoned with an animated racing automobile, was strolling dwelling from college on Thursday when his household stated he and his brothers had been chased by Israeli troopers.
After the boys bolted dwelling, the troops banged furiously on the door and threatened to arrest them. Simply moments later, Rayan, the youngest of the three brothers, was useless.
Rayan’s cousin, Mohammed Suleiman, advised Al Jazeera that upon his arrival at his home, Rayan was chased by the troopers who had been yelling at him.
“The troopers shouted at him that he’s [a] stone thrower,” he stated. “He ran away from one facet, and the soldier met him from the opposite facet [of the house]. Rayan noticed the soldier in entrance of him, and was shocked and dropped useless out of worry,” he stated.
Hadeel Salman, a neighbour and witness, stated Israeli troopers had been “moving into all instructions on the lookout for any youngster they may discover”.
“The troopers even summoned my younger brother – they advised him he threw stones at them and wanted to be arrested,” Salman advised 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 navy ways.
The US State Division demanded an investigation, whereas the European Union stated it was “shocked” by Rayan’s “tragic demise”.
Pictures of Rayan’s tiny, lifeless physique beneath a sheet within the hospital turned a potent new image in a single day. His demise got here a day after the deadliest Israeli incursion because the navy escalated its crackdown on components of the West Financial institution earlier this yr.
The Israeli navy 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 navy 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 advised 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 cause with the troopers, who accused his youngsters of throwing rocks. The troopers threatened to return at night time 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.
Docs 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 situations.
“Essentially the most possible state of affairs of what occurred is that beneath stress, he had extra adrenaline secretion, which precipitated the rise of his heartbeat,” Ismail stated. “He developed cardiac arrest.”
A forensic physician is presently conducting an post-mortem on Rayan.
On Friday, a crowd of mourners thronged his physique outdoors 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, gentle of the attention!”
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Tequa, stated whereas Israeli media reported that troopers had been on the lookout for stone throwers, “individuals right here say that even when youngsters had been throwing stones, what hurt would a seven-year-old pose to troopers who’re armed to their enamel?”
“They are saying the primary objective that Israel needs is to instil worry and management amongst Palestinians dwelling beneath navy occupation,” Ibrahim stated.
Shortly after the funeral, confrontations between Palestinians and armed Israeli troopers broke out in Tequa.
Regardless of the anger and unhappiness that has overcome the residents of the Palestinian city, Israeli troopers continued to conduct patrols, roaming across the streets since Friday morning, based on an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent.
Individually, at the very least 9 Palestinians had been arrested by Israeli forces throughout the West Financial institution on Friday.