Biden administration wants ‘thorough’ inquiry into death of 7-year-old Palestinian boy
Rian Suleiman died after Israeli soldiers visited his West Bank home to investigate a stone-throwing incident
A photo of Rian Suleiman circulating on Palestinian media.
By Ron Kampeas October 1, 2022
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration’s State Department demanded a “thorough and immediate” investigation into the death of a 7-year-old after Israeli soldiers visited his West Bank home.
“The U.S. is heartbroken to learn of the death of an innocent Palestinian child,” State Department spokesman Vedandt Patel said. “We support a thorough and immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death, and I believe the IDF itself has also indicated it will be looking into what has – what transpired as well.”
Rian Suleiman collapsed and died after soldiers visited his home in the West Bank town of Teqoa, near Bethlehem, on Thursday, according to his uncle, Mohammed Suleiman, who spoke to Haaretz. (The town shares a name with a nearby Jewish settlement.) He said the boy was frightened after shouting broke out between the soldiers and the boy’s father because the soldiers wanted to arrest Rian’s older brothers, who are 8 and 10.
Haaretz quoted defense officials as saying that troops were at the house investigating a stone-throwing incident and were not aware of the boy’s death until they heard the father shouting after they left.
The defense official said the army was investigating the incident, adding that their initial inquiries have found no connection between the soldiers’ presence and Rian’s death.
Palestinian Authority officials had initially said Suleiman died after falling while being chased by Israeli troops.
Tensions are high in the West Bank as Israel continues raids aimed at routing out terrorists behind a series of deadly attacks on Israeli civilians in the spring. A raid earlier this week in Jenin resulted in the death of four Palestinians whom Israel said were involved in militant activity , including the brother of a man who murdered three people in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv in April.
A prominent Palestinian journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was killed during a similar raid in May, and the Biden administration pressed Israel for answers. Israeli officials initially said Abu Akleh might have been killed by Palestinian militants, but earlier this month acknowledged that the shooter was likely Israeli. They said her killing was not deliberate.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
