Palestinian child falls to his death after being chased by Israeli soldiers near Bethlehem

A Palestinian child died on Thursday in the Palestinian town of Taqoa, near Bethlehem, after falling from a height after being chased by Israeli soldiers.
 
The victim was identified by the Palestinian health ministry as 7-year-old Rayan Suleiman, a 2nd-grader in the local mixed primary school of Taqoa.
 
“Rayan was the youngest of his siblings,” Munir Suleiman, his uncle told The New Arab. “Like all other boys, Rayan liked to play and learn, spending his time between school and home, and was really loved by all the family”, he said.
 
“Israeli soldiers entered the town when children were coming out of school and chased them in the streets, as  usually happens,"Suleiman added.

Palestinian child Rayan Suleiman, 7 years old, died after being chased by Israeli occupation forces in Tekoa town, southeast of Bethlehem. pic.twitter.com/9p1KNND5ee

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) September 29, 2022

 
“A group of about ten soldiers ran after Rayan all the way to his house, where he panicked and fell off a high wall," he said.
 
“The soldiers left immediately, while Rayan’s parents took him to the hospital, where I joined them”, he went on. “The boy’s heart had stopped and doctors tried to revive it for more than 40 minutes, before pronouncing him dead”, he added.
 
The family says that Rayan’s heart stopped because of the panic he suffered after being chased by Israeli soldiers, before he fell.

His body was kept for autopsy, and it is due to be buried on Friday.
 
An Israeli army spokesperson said the army will investigate the event, according to Israeli media reports.

According to Palestinian medical sources, Rayan Suleiman, 7 years old, died today after falling from a height as he ran away from Israeli occupation forces in the southeast of Bethlehem. pic.twitter.com/XRYjxxnYUB

— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) September 29, 2022

 
“The primary and middle schools are located exactly at the main street, where Israeli soldiers usually pass”, Mohammad Badan, the secretary of the Palestinian Fatah movement in Taqoa, told The New Arab.
 
“Israeli forces forbid the town from putting signs or any infrastructure on the street, and accuse older students of throwing stones in the street, and regularly chase them into the centre of the town,” he pointed out.

“Rayan happened to be there when this happened again today,” he added.
 
The death of Rayan Suleiman comes amid increasing Israeli attacks in the West Bank, with confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern west Bank.