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Having fun playing with friends, a boy in Jenin was shot dead by Israeli soldiers. Photo/Illustration
JENIN – Suleiman Abu al-Waf will never forget the “banging sound” that changed his life forever.
The 47-year-old man, a general practitioner at the Jenin Health Directorate, was sitting at home with his youngest son and two daughters on November 29. Israeli soldiers had stormed the city’s refugee camp that day, tearing up the streets, ordering people to leave their homes at gunpoint, and bombing a house.
But as soon as news spread that the army had withdrawn, Suleiman’s eldest son, 15-year-old Basil, told his father he wanted to go out and play with his friends.
“He was adamant, so I let him out and warned him not to go far,” Suleiman recalled.
Basil was playing in the al-Basateen neighborhood, far from the refugee camp.
“This area is known as a very quiet area,” said Suleiman.
So when he heard the sound, he knew something was wrong.
“I picked up my phone and called Basil more than once. He didn’t answer,” said the father.
He ran out of his house and saw another boy, eight-year-old Adam Samer al-Ghoul in the street, wounded in the head. Another boy came running: “Uncle, Basil is injured.”
When Suleiman went to see his son, he saw paramedics trying to save him. They refused to believe he was a doctor, so they kept him away from his son.