- VG warns against strong videos in this reportage
The boy will see with his own eyes what is going on in his hometown.
Earlier in the day, Israeli military vehicles rolled into the city centre.
In one place, the asphalt has been torn up.
The 15-year-old lines up with some friends, a little way from the armored cars.
He fiddles a bit with his mobile phone.
Then comes the shot:
The other children ducked and got away.
But Qaiss (15) was still preoccupied with his mobile phone.
This is how a father lost his son, on a Thursday in April.
Less than a day later, VG meets the boy’s survivors in the town of Tulkarm on the West Bank.
Six other children were with Qaiss when he was shot.
Now family and friends are gathered on the terrace outside the parents’ house.
Several of them were present when Qaiss was killed.
– He just stood and watched, says the boy’s cousin, Karam (27) to VG.
– He didn’t do anything. He looked at his cell phone. And then they shot. Everyone splashed, ducked and ran. Only Qaiss remained.
The cousin ran back to the 15-year-old.
– He raised his arm once. Then he didn’t lift it anymore, says Karam.
Surrounded by around thirty other mourners, the 15-year-old’s father sits in a tired plastic chair:
– He was my good boy, says Fathi Nasrallah (42) to VG.
– A little small for his age, and endlessly kind. Qaiss was innocent.
The shot probably came from this intersection:
Here, military vehicles were on their way to a refugee camp nearby.
The Israeli military (IDF) is still operating in the city.
From a height above the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp, VG sees smoke from a house on fire, and hears gunshots.
Only hours have passed since sobs accompanied the funeral procession for Qaiss and the 12 other Palestinians who, according to local authorities, were killed in the military operation.
After the Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October, several Palestinians in the West Bank have been subjected to violence, according to figures from the UN.
It is happening in parallel with the number of people killed in Gaza rising.
The differential treatment practiced in Israel and the West Bank is visible.
VG sees it himself on the road to Palestinian Tulkarm:
The main road can only be used by Israeli settlers.
The approximately 130,000 Palestinians living in the area who are going in or out of their hometown have to find their way through bumpy and dusty cart roads.
VG’s rental car, who have Israeli license plates, pass through the checkpoint manned by an Israeli armed guard.
It’s worse if you have Palestinian signs.
The road to Tulkarm passes olive trees with silver days on the leaves, a bunch of turkeys, two men on donkeys and a small stall with watermelons.
The phone rings: “Welcome to Palestine.”
The Israeli settlers in the area deeply disagree with that welcome.
In the first large the roundabout VG drives into, a group of boys aged 12–14 are sitting.
They watch who drives into the city, and report to others in the city if they think the visitors want them harm.
Friday 19 April was such a day.
The 15-year-old’s father takes a breath – and speaks for everyone around him:
– Children all over the world have rights. Except ours, he says.
The IDF was on West Bank to look for terrorists, writes an Israeli military spokesperson to VG.
The roads of the permanent residents were destroyed because they had to destroy explosives, the spokesperson further states.
These are roads used by resident Palestinians every day.
When VG arrives on Saturday morning, the city’s main street looks like a single long crater.
The center is empty of people.
The center divider where Qaiss stood with his scooter is now draped in bouquets of flowers.
The military action April 18 quickly became so violent that the Palestinian Red Crescent sent out what paramedics they had.
One of those sent out early in the day was Qais’ father.
Fathi Nasrallah was at work in the ambulance just outside Tulkarm when the shocking news came.
– I thought it was a joke, he says to VG.
– Although I see mistreatment of Palestinians several times every day, I just couldn’t believe that it had happened to my son.
The black eyelashes are clogged with tears. The father curls up in grief in his chair.
By the time Fathi reached the hospital, Qaiss was already dead.
The father shows the picture he took, of the bullet hole going straight through his son’s chest, and out the back of his back.
– Our children are not worth more than the children in Gaza. But it hurts just as much to lose them, says Fathi to VG.
Qais’ uncle breaks in:
– What justice is there in a boy playing with his phone in the street being shot and killed by a bullet through the chest? He didn’t do anything!
The grieving father answers.
– Suffering and injustice follow us from the moment we are born. Our children are growing up without a place to play.
The purpose of the action was “comprehensive anti-terrorist activities”, writes the IDF’s press spokesperson to VG.
Around 14,000 Palestinians live in the area around Nur Shams, where the action was carried out.
– During the operations, the forces eliminated 14 terrorists in close combat, arrested 15 wanted suspects, seized a number of weapons and destroyed dozens of explosive devices as well as two laboratories for the manufacture of terrorist bombs, writes the IDF.
The military is not aware that shots were fired at unarmed persons, the spokesperson states:
– But when more information is available about the incident, it will be thoroughly investigated.
At home Several of the 15-year-old’s parents come onto the terrace.
It is the father’s colleagues in the ambulance service who will show their sympathy and support.
Losing a child is the recurring nightmare for many of them.
Qais’ uncle says he still feels the fear.
– We had to have locked our children in if we were to be sure that they were safe.
