Israel and Palestinians condemned for child deaths

Both Israel and the Palestinians have allowed children to be killed with impunity throughout a two year period of conflict, according to an Amnesty International report released today.

The London-based human rights organisation said both sides have inadvertently encouraged the killing of children – Israel by not investigating actions of Israeli troops and the Palestinian Authority by not reining in armed Palestinian groups.

“Increasingly, children are bearing the brunt of the conflict, as both the Israeli Defence Forces and the Palestinian armed groups show an utter disregard for the lives of children and other civilians,” the group said.

According to data compiled by The Associated Press, 236 Palestinians and 61 Israelis under the age of 17 have been killed since September 2000.

In the latest incident, witnesses said a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the head today by Israeli troops in Balata refugee camp near Nablus in the West Bank.

At the time, several children and teenagers were defying an Israeli military curfew, but the shooting was unprovoked, witnesses said. The army had no immediate comment on the incident.

The army referred questions about Amnesty’s report to the Defence Ministry, which had no immediate comment.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the criticism aimed at the Palestinian Authority was unfair.

“The Palestinian Authority has always stood to condemn all attacks on Israeli civilians, not just children. It’s really unfair to put the blame on the Palestinian Authority, which is being crippled and systematically destroyed by the Israelis,” he said.