Today, 7-year-old palestinian Arab Rayan Yaser Suliman died. That part we know. How exactly he died, we are not sure.
There are those like the PA Health Ministry, who are claiming IDF soldiers chased him and while running away, he fell from a height.
The Palestine Chronicle reports:
A Palestinian child has died after falling from a high position while running away from Israeli soldiers who were chasing him in the village of Toqou, near Bethlehem, the official Palestinian agency WAFA reported.
Medical sources confirmed that 7-year-old Rayan Yaser Suliman was moved to the Beit Jala hospital after falling. However, efforts to revive him have failed.
According to the hospital, Suleiman fell from a high position while he was running away from Israeli soldiers, who were chasing him and other schoolmates.
Rayan’s father, Yaser, said that he tried to rush to the hospital but Israeli soldiers stopped the car and only let them go when they realized that his son was dead.
WAFA News reports the same and adds the soldiers chased him and other students “after leaving their school.”
Of course the idea IDF soldiers would chase a kid leaving school just for shits’n’giggles is preposterous, but this propaganda outfit knows there are plenty of people who lap these lies up. Especially haters looking to demonize Israel at every turn.
But as usual, things do not add up. According to Ha’aretz, a news outlet that itself likes to bash Israel:
The boy, Rian Suleiman, was frightened and “suffered a heart attack” when soldiers came to arrest his brothers in his family’s home in the Palestinian town of Teqoa, near Bethlehem, according to the deceased boy’s uncle.
A defense official told Haaretz that the soldiers arrived at the home to question the boy’s parents about a stone-throwing incident that happened earlier. The Palestinian Health Ministry had initially published a contradictory claim, saying the boy fell to his death whilst being chased by the Israeli army.
The Palestinians added that Rian was taken to hospital in a critical condition and pronounced dead soon after. The Israeli army is investigating the case. In a statement released later on Thursday, the army said “the claims about the minor’s death are known. An initial investigation found no connection between his death and the activity of soldiers in the area.”
Mohammed Suleiman, the boy’s uncle, said Rian was at home with his parents and two brothers when soldiers loudly knocked on the door. He added that the army wanted to arrest the two brothers, ages 8 and 10, for allegedly throwing rocks at soldiers. “Rian’s father opened the door and the soldiers entered. Then, there was a commotion and a lot of screaming. Out of fear, [Rian] collapsed and had a heart attack,” Suleiman said, adding that the child did not have any prior medical conditions. “He was a completely healthy boy filled with happiness, and within minutes we lost him,” he said.
An Israeli army source said that soldiers were chasing a group of kids who were throwing stones, when they lost eye contact with them. “Near one of the houses, the soldiers saw a father standing with his children and identified them as the kids who threw rocks, though it’s unclear if they were the same kids. The army officer spoke to the father without the kids being present, and after he left the house the man began to yell, causing the officer to realize that the child is in danger. According to the officer, he did not know that the child was injured.”
The Times of Israel adds:
The Israel Defense Forces denied any involvement in the child’s death, citing a preliminary probe of the incident.
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A military source told The Times of Israel that an IDF officer questioned the young boy’s father at their home. Troops also questioned several other Palestinian parents over their children’s alleged involvement in the stone-throwing.
The IDF said there were no clashes amid the searches, and troops did not deploy any riot control measures, such as tear gas.
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The army said it would continue to investigate the circumstances of the incident.
As usual, when the palestinian Arab side cannot get its story straight, chances are they are lying. When their story also does not even make logical sense, it’s a further indication that what we are seeing is yet another pernicious libel against the Jewish state.
By the way, even had their allegation been true, it would not mean IDF troops deliberately killed him. And assuming he was throwing rocks as alleged, he was the one deliberately trying to kill or maim others.
Update: These haters did not even use the correct photo (hat tip: Michal).
