West Bank occupied by Al-Rihiya on October 16 when Muhammad al-Hallaq, 9, a small villager, woke up for another day in his small town south of Hebron.
According to his request, his mother Alia prepared his outfit and breakfast, as well as three more pizza slices for him to share with his friends.
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Muhammad was excited to bring his books and notepads back from school with a new backpack so that he could use them for the weekend. He enjoyed eating some food before heading outside to watch the birds.
A youngster fascinated by the simple things in his environment.
Muhammad returned home, messed up some olives, and then returned to play football. The fourth-grader didn’t return this time.
Muhammad was gone, I thought.
Alia received a call at the grocery store.
She recalled that her uncle Ahmad called to inquire about any clashes [with Israeli forces] in our area. I screamed unintentionally. My son Muhammad, Muhammad, I am! A mother’s instincts are always correct, but I’m not sure why.
When Mais, Muhammad’s eldest sister, 14-year-old, heard the gunfire in the evening, she rushed outside.
Mais and Alia were both informed that their son had been injured at the time.
Alia received a notification that her son had been shot while she was heading for the nearby hospital.
According to Alia, “they said he was in good condition and that they would take him out.” But then she began to hear rumors that his heart was stopping. She was unable to enter the operating room because the doctors were frantically trying to save the boy’s life.
The heart monitor then sounded a long, piercing beep. Israeli forces were operating in his village when Muhammad was killed.
Alia declared that Muhammad was gone. “And everything good with him.”
Lethal force
The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory called Muhammad’s killing “appalled” and said it was shocked. The UN office added that Muhammed was the first Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023, along with 213 children.
Laila Khatib, age 2, was shot in her Jenin home in January during an Israeli raid, according to the UN as the youngest child to have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
According to the UN office, “international standards demand that Israel conduct an impartial and thorough investigation of all incidents where people have been killed in violent or suspicious circumstances.” The large number of Palestinians killed during this time, the prevalence of illegal killings, the support for settler crimes, and the endemic impunity for crimes committed against Palestinians all point to Israeli forces using lethal and potentially lethal force as a means of repressing Palestinians, as opposed to using it as a last resort to restore and uphold public order and civil life for the Palestinians.
Before Israeli soldiers started shooting, Muhammad and his friends are alleged to have fled after they came across Israeli military vehicles.
No local reports suggest that Muhammad and his friends were involved, or that the Israeli military’s initial statement stated that its forces were reacting to suspects throwing rocks. A preliminary military investigation, according to Israeli media, had determined that the shooting “defied the rules of engagement” and that there had been “improper use of weaponry.”
“A huge void,” the phrase means.
Palestinian killings of Palestinians in the West Bank are rarely the target of Israeli soldiers’ impunity, with towns and villages like al-Rihiya being left to pick up the pieces in wake of tragedies like Muhammad’s.
Aside from Mais, the eldest, Jaddi, the youngest, six-year-old Sila, and Elias, the fourth of five siblings, were born to him.
They all grieve over Muhammad’s absence.
A small bottle of perfume is still neatly folded next to the white robe he wore for Friday prayers, which he still wore. His books are stacked exactly where they were left.
Alia pointed to the empty space, “This is where Muhammad slept.” They “murdered his youth,” he said.
His family is having unique struggles with Muhammad’s passing. She won’t go back to school because her brother has always followed her.
Mais claimed that when she learned Muhammad had passed away, she fell to her.
She said, “Muhammad was my friend not just a brother.” He would ask me to tutor him when he came home from school, and if I got busy, he would yell, “Teach me first.” He would stay with me until I fell asleep, and then he would go to sleep because I was afraid of doing it in the dark.
Muhammad’s final school bag is still a nail’s length away from his bed.
Bahjat, the son of his father, discovers himself stumbling across the room, touching his bed, and inhaling the scent of his clothes.
Bahjat remarked, “His passing left a huge void.” “I can see him everywhere in the house, at the dining table, in his study area, and in the play area.”
Source: Aljazeera
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