{"id":182865,"date":"2022-09-30T20:18:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T17:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/?p=182865"},"modified":"2022-09-30T20:18:46","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T17:18:46","slug":"palestinians-mourn-boy-7-who-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/palestinians-mourn-boy-7-who-died\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestinians mourn boy, 7, who died"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A throng of men clutching the body of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy marched through a town in the occupied West Bank towards the child\u2019s final resting place on Friday, a day after his parents say he died from fear of armed Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n

Rayan Suleiman, with bright eyes and a backpack emblazoned with an animated racing car, was walking home from school on Thursday when his family said he and his brothers were chased by Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n

After the boys bolted home, the troops banged furiously on the door and threatened to arrest them. Just moments later, Rayan, the youngest of the three brothers, was dead.<\/p>\n

Rayan\u2019s cousin, Mohammed Suleiman, told Al Jazeera that upon his arrival at his house, Rayan was chased by the soldiers who were yelling at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soldiers shouted at him that he\u2019s [a] stone thrower,\u201d he said. \u201cHe ran away from one side, and the soldier met him from the other side [of the house]. Rayan saw the soldier in front of him, and was shocked and dropped dead out of fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hadeel Salman, a neighbour and witness, said Israeli soldiers were \u201cgoing in all directions looking for any child they could find\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soldiers even summoned my young brother \u2013 they told him he threw stones at them and needed to be arrested,\u201d Salman told Al Jazeera. \u201cHe insisted he had nothing to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story spread across the West Bank, providing an emotive focus for fury over Israel\u2019s military tactics.<\/p>\n

The US State Department demanded an investigation, while the European Union said it was \u201cshocked\u201d by Rayan\u2019s \u201ctragic death\u201d.<\/p>\n

Photographs of Rayan\u2019s tiny, lifeless body under a sheet in the hospital became a potent new symbol overnight. His death came a day after the deadliest\u00a0Israeli incursion\u00a0since the military escalated its crackdown on parts of the West Bank earlier this year.<\/p>\n