Death of a Child

This morning, thirteen-year old Mo'in Talakhmen, of Kfar al-Burj, Hebron District, was killed when munitions remnants exploded while he was on his way to pick figs some 400 meters from his home. The child apparently stepped on the abandoned ammunition.

Since 1987, there have been at least 84 incidents in the West Bank in which individuals were injured by explosions of abandoned ammunition. In these incidents, 34 persons were killed, among them 27 children, and more than 90 Palestinians were injured, 69 of them children. This summer alone, Mo'in is the third child to be killed by munitions remnants.

B'Tselem has repeatedly warned that Palestinian life cannot be taken lightly. IDF forces training in the West Bank, often close to inhabited areas, do not comply with the cautionary measures and conduct required by international law and IDF orders:

• The IDF does not place fences and/or signs around training areas;

• Soldiers do not make the proper effort to collect unexploded ammunition remaining in the training area;

• The military does not thoroughly investigate cases in which abandoned ammunition has subsequently exploded, and does not prosecute those responsible;

• There is no appropriate procedure to compensate injured persons and their families.

How many Palestinian children have to be killed before the IDF gets the message?