The Murder of Ahmad by the IDF in Hebron

From The Daily Life of Kawther Salam

"On July 3, 2007, soldiers of IDF Brigade Commander Yehuda Fuchs murdered the 14-year-old child Ahmad Mohsen Al-Skafi in Hebron. After I called the family last weekend to ask them about the incident, I was shocked not only because of what the family told me, but also by the complete decline in the level of professionalism among the journalists in the area of conflict. The measures of the IDF to restrict the work of Palestinian journalists hinder them in fulfilling their important mission in the Palestinian cities. IDF commanders declare the places where they intend to commit crimes as “military zones” and then arrest any journalist who reaches these areas of conflict under that pretext. It is very important for the occupation regime of the IDF to cover up the evidence of the daily crimes of their soldiers against unarmed civilians, specially the children who they kill for no reason but “fun”. This incident was reported previously, but the reports, also on the Internet, were based on the lies of the IDF.

According to the wishes of the Israeli occupational regime, the IDF spokespersons should be the only sources which supply the local and the International media with news about IDF “activities” in Palestinian cities. The IDF press releases are usually based on lies, rumors and innuendo, and they always seek to “justify” the crimes of the IDF against Palestinians.

The Execution of Ahmad Mohsen Al-Skafi

At about five in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 3, 2007, troops of Colonel Yehuda Fuchs assassinated Ahmad Mohsen Al-Sfaki and declared the area near their crime a military zone in to hinder the access of journalists. All this happened in Lossah, a part of Eissa, a suburb in the south-west of Hebron near Wadi Taffouh in area H1 under the Palestinian control. Ahmad had gone to a nearby supermarket to buy chocolate and some sweets for Isra’a, his younger sister of age 4. The soldiers watched Ahmad on his way to the supermarket, and when he got out they showered him with 30 bullets and a grenade, which exploded in his abdomen, blowing out his intestines. The soldiers then sent their dogs to eat part of the body.

The IDF spokesperson invented lies and spread rumors in his press release. He said that Ahmad was playing with a toy gun which looked like a real one when the IDF shot him ... That he ran away when the IDF soldiers asked him to stop … That the military commander sent his apologies to Palestinian officials after the IDF troops found out that the boy was holding a toy gun and not a real one …..

Ahmad's father and grandfather were very angry about the lies of the IDF. They strongly denied the concoction of lies which the IDF spread. They said: “Ahmad did not hold a toy gun; the IDF soldiers killed Ahmad after he got out of the supermarket where he was buying some chocolate for his sister”......

Execution or Revenge?

I asked Ahmad’s grandfather why the soldiers would have killed Ahmad on purpose? Mr. Al-Skafi answered that he has two sons sentenced to life in Israeli jails: "Joseph was sentenced to 4 times life and Ala’a to 27 years. Colonel Yehuda Fuchs knew that when he sent his troops to our neighborhood. The IDF soldiers themselves know this as well, and since the IDF troops came to hide themselves in the abandoned building of Al-Taweel, they must have planned to kill somebody. They killed Ahmad, 14 years old boy, as a revenge on his uncles. This is the mentality of the IDF criminal soldiers." This is a crime, said the grandfather of boy. Ahmad’s father Mohsen was crying during the conversation....."