Atallah Rayyan, 17 years old, attempted to kill an IDF soldier and stab her at a junction near Ariel on Tuesday. But certain Palestinian media sources claim that he, and not the soldier who shot him in defense, was the victim.The Palestinian chapter of Defense of the Child International (DCI-P) claimed that he had been executed by the IDF.DCI-P released a photo of Rayyan, who was a minor at the time of his death, calling him a “child” and reporting he was “the first Palestinian child” Israel killed in 2021.
Some Twitter users objected to the emotionally-charged language, pointing to how the alleged "child" was holding a knife and that the event was recorded by the traffic cameras at the junction. Others expressed their repulsion at the acts of the IDF based on the tweet. He “died as a Martyr after being shot by the occupation’s soldiers while he was at the junction,” the Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported. Not including the actions which led to this result, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported in a Friday press release.The newspaper goes on to describe how the IDF allegedly left Rayyan laying in his own blood without offering any medical aid.According to Israeli media, Rayyan was already dead when emergency services arrived on the scene. Cpl. Lian Harush, a lone soldier from London, was the IDF soldier who defended herself from the attacker. “This is the kind of thing we prepare for during training, and we will always be prepared and ready to deal with it,” Harush said.Breaking: @DCIPalestine has confirmed Israeli forces shot dead the first Palestinian child killed in 2021. Israeli forces shot and killed Attallah Mohammad Harb Rayan, 17, near the illegal Burkan settlement in the occupied West Bank around noon today. pic.twitter.com/ScIuCs3Kjj
— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) January 26, 2021