Defense for Children International - Palestine affirmed today, Wednesday, that the excessive and lethal force used by the Israeli  forces against Palestinian civilians during their incursions into Palestinian areas affected children mainly, noting that it documented testimonies of children in Jenin who are still living in constant tension and anxiety.

In a report, the movement confirmed that, in addition to violating the right to life of 17 children since the beginning of this year, the practices of the Israeli forces have left significant effects on other children, which appeared in their behavior, thinking, and academic achievement, violating their rights guaranteed by international laws, and threatening their psychological and social security.

In this regard, Defense for Children International documented the reality of a number of children from Jenin governorate, who are the most targeted by the occupation forces, in terms of incursions and the number of martyrs.

Among the 17 children killed since the beginning of this year, six are from Jenin governorate, in addition to using children as human shields, and detaining others for long hours in their homes and using them as military barracks and sniper and observation points, during the storming of the city and its camp, which greatly affected the children.

The child (Y.A., 17 years old) told Defense for Children International: “While my colleague Mahmoud Al-Saadi (17 years) and I were heading to school in the morning, the occupation army stormed the camp and started shooting from all directions. He was martyred (January 21, 2022). We were planning together to graduate from school and go to university and study together, but all of that was shattered. I hate school and its way.”

As for the child (W.Z., 16 years old), he said: “The Israeli raids into the camp have become routine. The army enters at any time, so I can no longer leave the house, and I am afraid of the army’s raids while I am outside the house. I used to go out and meet friends in the alleys of the camp, where there is no place.” For fun or play, let alone when leaving the house is a matter that threatens my life, the details of our lives have become limited to preserving the minimum limits of life with caution, caution, anticipation and tension.

The child (M.N., 17 years old) said: "In every raid, there are martyrs, shooting, destroying homes, and destroying property. Bullets penetrated the walls of our house. Danger pursues me while I am in bed. When I want to move inside the house, I have to crawl on my stomach for fear of sniper bullets, or A stray bullet. Death is more merciful than this fear and anxiety. For more than a year I have not been able to sleep normally or for enough hours. Sometimes I wake up to the sound of bullets and explosions, and other times I wake up due to nightmares. I no longer distinguish between dream and reality.

As for the child (RA, 15 years old), he indicated that the camp "has become full of pictures of martyrs, and behind every martyr there is a story and memories. I saw from the window of the house young men who were wounded by the bullets of the occupation and left to bleed until they died, and I also saw the bodies of martyrs completely burnt. I became afraid of Moving even at home. In the past, I used to hate the night because of the repeated intrusions, but now I hate the whole day, day and night. The camp was narrow in the past, and with its narrowness it accommodated us, our dreams, and our friends, but now it has narrowed to its minimum limits. Our dreams have been suffocated, suffocated by the occupation. With every raid in which a friend is martyred, even our days as ordinary students have become a terrible burden. The camp, the street, and the school are filled with our memories with martyred friends.”

He added: "The Israeli forces killed our teacher, Jawad Bawakna. He was the teacher closest to us. He sent us energy and hope through his activities and his constant movement full of vitality. He had a great ability to support us psychologically in light of these conditions in the camp. Today, we lost one of the most important sources of psychological support. School has become a painful memory for our loved ones, and we are trying as much as we can to stay away from it.”

In one of the incursions into the Jenin camp, the Israeli occupation forces surrounded a house and took the father away from his wife and two children, Tolin (two years old) and Misk (a year old). Putting the family's life in grave danger.

The father of the two girls said to Defense for Children International: "The behavior of his two daughters changed radically after this incident, especially Tolene, who turned from an active and asking questions into a secluded child attached to her mother and distracted, afraid of any sound or movement, except for the frequent nightmares and bouts of crying that afflict her." ".

Defense for Children International affirmed that the practices of the Israeli forces, including killing, arresting, storming and setting up military checkpoints, and many other violations against the Palestinian people, exploiting the policy of impunity that accompanies the protection and immunity from accountability that it enjoys, has led to the deterioration of the situation of children in Palestine. And negatively affected their access to their rights, in addition to the psychological effects of Israeli violations remain in the hearts of people who have been directly harmed or harmed.