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July 26th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
Two Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israeli gunfire in the span of just a few days in the occupied West Bank, bringing the death toll of Palestinian youth killed by Israel in 2021 to 77.
On Monday, 17-year-old Yousef Nawaf Mhareb, a resident of the Ramallah-area village of Abwein, succumbed to wounds he had sustained two months prior, when he was shot in the neck by Israeli forces.
According to the official PA news agency Wafa, Mhareb was in the ICU for 74 days before succumbing to his wounds on Monday. According to Arabic media reports, he was shot by Israeli forces during protests in May over Israeli aggression in Sheikh Jarrah and the Al Aqsa Mosque — protests that sparked the “Unity Uprisings” and the latest war in Gaza.
Just a few days prior, Israeli forces shot another 17-year-old Palestinian boy during protests on Friday in the Nabi Saleh village outside of Ramallah.
According to Defense for Children International — Palestine (DCIP), Israeli forces shot Muhammad Munir al-Tamimi with live ammunition in his back. The bullet exited through his abdomen, “tearing a large hole and exposing his intestines,” DCIP said, adding that al-Tamimi underwent four hours of surgery before being transferred to the ICU.
He succumbed to his injuries several hours later, and was pronounced dead at around midnight.
Al-Tamimi, a resident of the neighboring town of Deir Nitham, was reportedly taking part in Friday protests in Nabi Saleh — a weekly occurrence in the village since 2009, after Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal Halamish settlement took control of the village’s water spring.
Israeli forces routinely use lethal force during protests in Nabi Saleh, despite the fact that the protests are largely peaceful.
Al-Tamimi’s mother told AP that Israeli forces shot her son from a “point blank range,” adding that there is a video showing an Israeli soldier opening the door to the military jeep, shooting her son, and leaving.
Her claims seem to be corroborated by DCIP’s findings, which states that Al-Tamimi was shot from a maximum distance of 10 feet by a soldier who was in a military jeep.
The Israeli army told Haaretz that soldiers “identified a Palestinian suspect who was hurling stones threatening one of the soldiers’ life. The soldier followed the rules of engagement and shot the suspect.”
“Israeli forces routinely unlawfully kill Palestinian children with impunity, resorting to intentional lethal force in circumstances not justified by international law,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP, said in response to al-Tamimi’s killing.
“Excessive use of force is the norm, and systemic impunity ensures that Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation can be killed at any moment with no recourse or accountability.”
The killing of al-Tamimi and Mhareb brought the death toll of Palestinian youth killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank since January to 11. Including the 66 children killed during the Israeli attack on Gaza in May, the total number of Palestinian youth killed by Israeli forces so far in 2021 has been 77.
Third Palestinian killed in a week
Earlier last week, a Palestinian man was pronounced dead while in Israeli custody at the al-Moskobiya (Moscovia) detention center in East Jerusalem — a center notorious among Palestinians for cruel Israeli interrogation tactics and torture.
43-year-old Abd Yusuf al-Khatib al-Tamimi from East Jerusalem was found dead in his cell on Wednesday. According to the Israel Prison Service (IPS), he was found unconscious in his cell by guards, who then unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate him.
Al-Tamimi had been arrested three days prior by Israeli forces for “driving offenses,” according to Haaretz.
Haaretz reported that the IPS said it would look into al-Tamimi’s death, but suggested that his death could have been a result of preexisting health conditions.
Al-Tamimi’s family reportedly denied claims that he had any preexisting illnesses, and refuted the IPS’ version of events, citing “testimonies from other prisoners, that al-Tamimi was attacked or was under physical or mental pressure,” Haaretz said.
“We don’t know exactly how he died… but detainees called the family from the jail and told them that he was being beaten and there were screams,” Khaldoun Najm, the family’s lawyer, told Times of Israel.
The family reportedly demanded that a Palestinian doctor be present at the autopsy of al-Tamimi’s body. The results of the autopsy have not yet been released to the public.
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