Milad Al-Rai a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager from Al-Arroub Camp north of Al-Khalil was murdered by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) after being shot in the back during an Israeli raid into the camp last Sunday.
Milad was dreaming of being a football player and visiting Real Madrid Stadium. He was also passionate about rap music. In many online videos he was rapping about occupation homeland and the right of return.
However all these dreams vanished.
“He was part of my heart” his father Munther Al-Rai said while mourning his death.
“A tree was removed from its roots.&rdquo This is how his grandmother Hajja Umm Hatem described his loss.
Milad was shot in the back and he was immediately transferred to Al-Yamamah Hospital in Bethlehem after Palestinian ambulances were prevented from taking him to al-Khalil hospitals.
Since the beginning of this year 47 children have been killed by IOF gunfire in the West Bank. Last year 53 Palestinian children were killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli actions as documented by Defense for Children International &ndash Palestine Section (DCIP) constitute lethal disproportionate and excessive use of force.
Israel enjoys widespread impunity for its war crimes and crimes against humanity according to DCIP. Most of the Israeli crimes against children occurred during violent raids and arrest campaigns in West Bank villages and towns.
Sadness permeated the entire Al-Arroub Camp. Milad was laid to rest amid calls for revenge.
According to Ahmed Abu Al-Khairan the head of the Al-Arroub camp’s popular committee there appears to be an Israeli policy targeting the camp in general and the children therein.
The occupation employs a policy of murder and barbarism to crush resistance and persistence killing children or shooting them in the feet to render them permanently disabled and what happened to Milad was a direct targeting of children by soldiers he added.
