April 15, 2007

RAMALLAH (Palestine Times) – The Arab and International Department of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) stated yesterday that the Israeli occupation forces have killed 900 Palestinian children in the past seven years injured 16,000, leaving 750 of them handicapped.

During the same period, the Isaelis arrested 6,000 children between 13 to 18 years old, 398 of whom are still in prison. The youngest prisoner is Mohammad Nemer Khawaja, 13, from Ne’leen village. The PLO also noted that 20 children are still administrative detainees, who have been detained without trial for more than six months.

The organization considered these against the Palestinian children as "war crime" according international standards, in particular the repeated Israeli practices, seen recently in Nablus, of using Palestinian children as human shields during incursions in citizens’ houses.

They also appealed to human and law institutions, including the United Nations organizations, to exercise its humanitarian role in defending the Palestinian children, expose the Israeli activities and work with governments and other international organizations to pressure the Israeli government and its army to stop the violations against Palestinian children.