Palestinian teenager killed by Israeli sniper during Jenin raid was unarmed, CCTV footage shows

Video evidence has emerged showing that a Palestinian teenager who was fatally shot during a brutal Israeli military raid last week in Jenin was unarmed, according to an investigative report by a UK newspaper.

Abdulrahman Hasan Ahmad Hardan, 16, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper on 4 July as he stood outside Jenin's Al-Amal hospital, with the intention of donating blood following calls from his local mosque for volunteers.

The teenager’s parents, as well as eyewitnesses, verified the CCTV evidence published by  The Times, which obtained the footage from a shop adjacent to the hospital.

The video shows the empty-handed 16-year-old leaning forward as he looks down the street outside the Jenin hospital. He then suddenly falls to the ground after he was shot by the sniper on the second day of Israel's aerial and ground assault on the city, which left at least 12 Palestinians dead and scores more injured.

Four of the Palestinians killed were under the age of 18.

Israeli forces have killed four Palestinian children in Jenin since yesterday.

An Israeli sniper shot 16-year-old Abdulrahman Hasan Ahmad Hardan, left, in the head, while Mustafa Imad Ali Qassem, also 16, was killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Read more: https://t.co/knm02JNMjj pic.twitter.com/mC7Ksnp1U3

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) July 4, 2023

"My son hadn’t even turned 17 yet," his mother, Kifaya Hardan, told The Times from the family home in the occupied West Bank village of Fahmeh.

"The occupation killed him in cold blood and accused him of taking part in armed confrontations. He wasn’t carrying a gun or anything. He was a child," she continued.

The 16-year-old went into surgery soon after the shooting and died five hours later, his family stated.

His mother said she had "no reason" to believe her son would be in danger as the Israeli raid was carried out in the Jenin camp, while the hospital is located outside of the area, in an interview with The Times.

"He was an ordinary boy, he was not a terrorist like they are saying," his mother said. "Every Palestinian in their eyes is a terrorist, armed or not."

The large-scale incursion, which saw Israeli forces use drone strikes and armoured bulldozers, was described as one of the worst in two decades.

Israeli forces claimed that the young Palestinian boy was carrying an automatic weapon, despite the CCTV footage suggesting otherwise.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht, also claimed that Hardan was "not a child".

Under international law, the use of firearms by security forces against civilians is solely permitted as a last resort and when there is "imminent threat of death or serious injury". 

Children are also granted additional protections under such humanitarian laws.

The Israeli army often says they only target Palestinian fighters or armed individuals, but Israeli forces have routinely killed unarmed Palestinian men, women and children since it began its occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

Israeli forces accused of violence or wrongdoing against Palestinians are rarely prosecuted. 

Israeli forces have so far killed at least 190 Palestinians during raids in the West Bank this year, with at least 35 of the deaths being children.