8-year-old Palestinian boy found dead, suspected to have been kidnapped by settlers

The body of an eight-year-old Palestinian, who had gone missing in Jerusalem al-Quds for around a day, is found at the bottom of a cistern in the occupied city amid suspicion and accusations of his murder by Israeli settlers.

News ID: 448636

Date: 26 January 2020 - 21:37

RNA - Qais abu Ramila from al-Quds’ Beit Hanina neighborhood was found lifeless on Saturday, a day after being reported missing by his family, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The paper cited the Israeli police as saying that the youngster “was last seen entering a car.”

"When we arrived at the scene there was a big bustle, dozens of people were walking around the place," it quoted Yanai Levy, an Israeli paramedic, as saying in a statement.

His parents said they believe he was kidnapped, telling the Israeli outlet Maariv, “We demand the police check security footage [from the streets],”

“If it turns out he was kidnapped by [West Bank] settlers it would set the entire neighborhood on fire,” they said.

Ahmad Tibi, a member of Knesset (Israeli parliament), told Israel’s Ynet news website, “Things are worrisome.” “I hope that all doubts will be proven false,” he added.

Some, meanwhile, placed the blame for the child’s death squarely on violent Israeli settlers.

The settlers have in the past been found guilty in several cases of murdering Palestinians as young as an infant.

On July 31, 2015, a large fire broke out after settlers threw firebombs and Molotov cocktails into two Palestinian houses in the town of Duma, located 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of the city of Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank, setting them ablaze while their inhabitants were asleep.

The arson attack killed 18-month-old baby Ali Dawabsheh and critically wounded his father and mother, Sa’ad and Riham, who later succumbed to their injuries. Ali’s four-year-old brother, Ahmad, who was also wounded in the assault, remained the sole survivor of the ill-fated family.

In July 2014, a Palestinian teenager named Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and his body discovered in the forest in al-Quds after being burned by three Israeli settlers.

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