Commanders ordered live fire ambush of teens, though they posed no danger. 14-year-old killed

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Internal information in the Yusef a-Shawamreh killing reveals: Commanders ordered live fire ambush of teens, though they posed no danger. The result: a 14-year-old killed, no one held accountable


Yusef a-Shawamreh next to the Separation Barrier. Photo: 'Abed Al-Hashlamoun, EPA

In March 2014 soldiers shot and killed Yusef a-Shawamreh, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, as he went through a gap in the Separation Barrier in the area of the village of Deir al-‘Asal al-Foqa, southwest of Hebron, to pick edible plants in order to help provide for his family. B’Tselem's Investigation, as well as material from the Military Police Investigation Unit (MPIU) file indicate that he was shot in broad daylight, although he posed no danger. In July 2014, roughly four months after the incident took place, then-Military Advocate for Operational Matters Lt. Col. Ronen Hirsch notified B’Tselem that the Military Advocate General (MAG) had decided to close the investigation without serving any indictments as there was “no suspicion that the open-fire regulations had been breached or that any military personnel were involved in criminal action”. In the letter, Lt. Col. Hirsch wrote that four soldiers who had mounted an ambush spotted three Palestinians sabotaging and crossing the Separation Barrier. The soldiers then carried out suspect apprehension procedure, ending with one soldier shooting at the lower part of a-Shawamreh’s leg. However, according to Lt. Col. Hirsch, the shot mistakenly hit a-Shawamreh in the waist, killing him.

B’Tselem wrote to the MPIU and requested a copy of the investigation file. The organization was sent a partial copy only, including video footage taken by a military surveillance camera. While the information in the file revealed errors in B’Tselem’s initial inquiry, it corroborated its conclusions and highlighted the particularly appalling aspects of the incident. According to the file, on 19 March 2014, three Palestinians – an 18-year-old and two minors – went up to several gaps in the Separation Barrier that had long been used by Palestinian teenagers to cross through and pick edible Gundelia plants from their families’ land on the other side. The military had sealed the gaps in the fence the previous evening, and the ambush soldiers reinforced the seal with metal wire and plastic handcuffs upon its arrival at the area. When the three teenagers found the gaps closed, they began removing the wires from one of them. When they were done, they crossed the fence and the adjacent buffer zone. Only then did two of the soldiers reveal themselves. They called out to the boys to stop, fired two warning shots in the air, and then fatally shot 14-year-old a-Shawamreh.