He was just an 8 year old boy. His name was Adam Samer al Ghoul and this Wednesday he was shot dead in Jenin (West Bank) by an Israeli army sniper, according to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Abu al Wafa was 15 years old and died in the same way, practically at the same time. The deaths of these two minors were recorded in separate videos recorded by security cameras and did not take long to go viral, through social networks and Arab news networks, generating special indignation in the Middle East.
In the images, Adam, unarmed, is seen running down a street in Jenin with other boys, apparently participating in skirmishes with the military. Him until he is shot and falls to the ground. Another boy drags him to safety behind a car, but he leaves a trail of blood and already seems to have no life. In the other video, Abu, also surrounded by boys, is seen holding a not very large object and making the gesture of trying to light it, without success, when he is shot and falls to the ground while a rain of bullets can be seen around him. The boy complains of pain, tries to move but can’t and finally remains motionless.
The children “were killed by the Israeli occupier’s bullets,” denounced the ANP Ministry of Health. To questions from La Vanguardia, the press office of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded: “During the IDF actions in the Jenin [refugee] camp, several suspects threw explosive devices. towards the IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded with live fire towards the suspects,” without confirming that they were the children. Earlier, the army said it had killed “two high-ranking terrorists,” two alleged members of the Jenin Brigades, increasing outrage among camp residents.
While the war in Gaza was halted by the truce, in the other occupied Palestinian territory, the West Bank, the army was intensifying operations. The raid on Jenin, in which Adam and Abu died, began on Tuesday afternoon and lasted for more than fifteen hours until noon on Wednesday, during which the city remained under siege and the military carried out “dozens of arrests,” according to A Palestinian social activist told La Vanguardia from Jenin, who explained that the troops surrounded three of the city’s main hospitals – the government one, Ibn Sina and Al Marah – preventing entry and exit.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that its staff could not act to help those wounded in the Israeli attack and that for several hours no one was allowed to reach hospitals. Luz Saavedra, MSF coordinator in Jenin, sent an audio message to the press explaining that the soldiers entered the emergency areas of the hospitals and that at least eight gunshot wounds – some to the head – finally ended up being admitted. . “In these conditions we cannot do our work, neither medical nor humanitarian,” declared Saavedra.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the ceasefire was passing its final hours, although this Wednesday night negotiations continued in Qatar to extend it, as happened on Monday, when the initial four days of truce became six, following the extension of 48 hours. If there was no agreement, the war would resume at 7 a.m. today (6 a.m. in Spain), which is the time at which the fighting stopped last Friday. However, Hamas gave indications on Wednesday afternoon that the extension would be agreed. However, despite the truce, Israeli soldiers killed three armed Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday who constituted “a threat,” according to IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari.
The ceasefire would be temporary, although during these six days of truce international pressure has intensified on Israeli Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu to make the cessation of hostilities definitive. But Netanyahu made it clear again this Wednesday that that will not happen. “In recent days I have heard a question: after completing this stage of returning our hostages, will Israel return to fighting? “My answer is an unequivocal yes,” the premier said in a statement. “There is no situation in which we will not fight until the end again. “This is my policy,” Netanyahu added.
The premier once again insisted that he will not stop the war until Hamas is eliminated from Gaza. And in this sense, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, also ruled out a permanent truce that, he said, would only serve to prop up “Hamas’s reign of terror.”
This Wednesday, Hamas released two hostages of Russian nationality, in a gesture towards President Vladimir Putin. Unlike previous occasions, these releases took place independently and a few hours before those of the ten new Israeli and four Thai kidnapped people, in exchange for the release of another 30 Palestinian prisoners – 15 women and 15 children – in the West Bank, which occurred early this Thursday morning. The sixth exchange of hostages for prisoners took place late and at the stroke of midnight.
Subsequently, the Government of Israel released the identities of the 10 freed Israeli hostages, some with dual nationality – Gal Tarshansky (13), Amit Shani (15), Liam Or (18), Itay Regev Jerbi (18), Ofir Engel (17 ), Yarden Roman-Gat (35), Moran Stela Yanai (40), Liat Binin Atzili (49), Ra’aya Rotem (54) and Raz Ben-Ami (56) – and the two Russian-Israelis – Yelena Trupanov (50) and Irena Tati (73) – released in the afternoon.
On the other hand, Hamas reported this Wednesday that three hostages kidnapped in the October 7 terrorist attack died as a result of Israeli bombing. They would be Shiri Silverman Bibas and her two children, Ariel, four years old, and Kfir, a baby who was only ten months old. However, the Israeli Government denounced Hamas’ “psychological terror” towards the families of the kidnapped and said that it was necessary to verify this information.
