Boy, 9, paralysed for life after being shot in neck by Israeli soldiers
In a West Bank clinic, the father of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy showed us where the bullet shot by an Israeli soldier entered his son’s neck and where it left his small body through his spine.
Kareem Sharaab had been outside his home when the Israeli military entered his village in the occupied West Bank.
He’d been sent out to the shops for groceries. The short walk would change his life forever.
His grandfather, Hani, told me what happened next. “There was nothing going on then. No clashes, nothing. The kid was just playing on the road. Out of nowhere, the sound of gunfire, and the voice of children screaming out that Kareem has been injured.”
Kareem Sharaab was left paralysed when an Israeli bullet hit his spine
Hani rushed down to his grandson and carried his body hundreds of yards to an ambulance.
Paramedics fought to staunch the flow of blood and save Kareem. Kareem’s father, Shadi, showed us a video of those moments.
“The first time I saw this, I ran to the bathroom to cry. I can’t bear it. I can’t handle it. It’s too much for me,” he told me.
Kareem’s life was saved but he has been left paralysed from the waist down. He will never walk again. His brothers and sisters are traumatised by what happened, his father added.
“Look, before the incident, my children had normal lives,” Shadi said. “Today, they’re startled by sounds and terrified when they see soldiers at checkpoints. They can’t get the idea out of their minds that a soldier will always shoot at you.”
Kareem is carried by his father, Shadi, as he returns from physio treatment, while his grandfather, Hani, takes care of his wheelchair. Pic: Family handout
They are one of hundreds of families across the West Bank and East Jerusalem whose lives have been shattered by Israelis shooting their children.
The death toll of Palestinian children killed by Israel in shootings and airstrikes in the occupied West Bank has doubled since 7 October last year.
By the end of November, 170 under the age of 18 have lost their lives, according to DCI (Defense for Children International) Palestine and Save the Children.
Of those killed 70 were 15 or younger and four were below the age of nine. At least 1,400 children have reportedly been wounded.
Sky News has looked into each of the children’s deaths and compiled photos of as many of them as we could find.
Some of the children killed by Israelis in the occupied West Bank since last October’s Hamas-led attack on Israel, according to DCI Palestine
In some cases, Israelis claim the children they killed had been threatening soldiers with knives, guns or petrol bombs.
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces told Sky News that Palestinian minors in the West Bank “often participate in violent disturbances and hostile activities against security forces and Israeli citizens. In addition, terrorist organisations operate and embed themselves within the civilian population, using civilians as human shields”.
All cases involving children or civilians being killed, the IDF told us, are “thoroughly investigated”. Nine-year-old Kareem’s case is still under investigation, nine months after it happened.
The Israeli military has strict open-fire regulations. Soldiers can only use lethal fire in life-threatening situations and only then as a last resort and are instructed to shoot at the legs if possible. However, Israeli soldiers are rarely prosecuted or convicted for breaching those regulations despite the high death toll.
We went to Jenin to find a family mourning one of Israel’s latest child victims. The mother of 14-year-old Rayan Al Sayed, Reem, told us of their loss.
“I miss him every hour,” she told me. “I haven’t slept in two days. Every night I feel him. He comes home to me, and says ‘mom I’m here’, ‘mom I can see you’. When I pray, I see him in front of me, smiling, bless him.”
Rayan’s uncle, Fuad, took us to the place where Israelis shot him twice, very close to the family home.
Rayan Al Sayed, 14, was shot dead by Israeli forces
The Israeli military said soldiers had been attacked with explosives and firearms.
In a statement, they said: “During security forces’ activities to arrest a wanted individual in Jenin on 14 October 2024, terrorists opened fire at our forces from several locations, who responded with gunfire, and two armed terrorists were neutralised.
“During the operation, a terrorist threw explosives at our forces, who responded with fire, resulting in identified hits. The circumstances of the case are under investigation.”
Palestinian eyewitnesses we spoke to in Jenin denied the Israelis came under fire and said Rayan was unarmed and not throwing stones or anything else.
“One jeep started firing,” one eyewitness told us. “Then the other did as well. Both did. The one over there fired directly at us here, hitting the boy in his chest and neck.”
Rayan with his father
Rayan’s friends picked him up in their arms and rushed him away, taking him to hospital where he died of his wounds not long after arriving, video footage shot by an eyewitness showed. The footage did not appear to show anyone was armed.
Itamar Ben Gvir, the Israeli national security minister and far-right extremist, has called for Israeli military regulations to be relaxed to allow soldiers to shoot any “potential” threat, including stone throwers.
Its military insists the rules have not been changed but in practice more and more children and teenagers are being shot, many dying from their injuries, whether they are throwing stones or not.
Kareem next to one of his siblings. Pic: Supplied by family
Alison Griffin, head of conflict and humanitarian campaigns at Save the Children UK, said the deaths of Palestinian children in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 2023 highlight “a highly concerning and ongoing pattern of violence against children in the context of occupation”.
She added: “As an occupying power, Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians, particularly children who are entitled to special protections.
“The use of disproportionate and excessive force, especially against children, constitutes a grave violation of these laws.
“The vast majority of these children are being killed without any clear justification… it is essential that independent investigations are carried out to hold those responsible accountable.”
An Afghan man who worked for the British military has told Sky News he feels betrayed and has “completely lost (his) mind” after his identity was part of a massive data breach.
He told The World with Yalda Hakim about the moment he discovered he was among thousands of Afghans whose personal details were revealed, putting him at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.
The man, who spoke anonymously to Sky News from Afghanistan, says he worked with British forces for more than 10 years.
But now, he regrets working alongside those troops, who were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001.
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Afghans being relocated after data breach
“I have done everything for the British forces … I regret that – why (did) I put my family in danger because of that? Is this is justice?
“We work for them, for [the] British, we help them. So now we are left behind, right now. And from today, I don’t know about my future.”
He described receiving an email warning him that his details had been revealed.
He said: “When I saw this one story… I completely lost my mind. I just thought… about my future… my family’s.
“I’ve got two kids. All my family are… in danger. Right now… I’m just completely lost.”
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The mistake by the Ministry of Defence in early 2022 ranks among the worst security breaches in modern British history because of the cost and risk posed to the lives of thousands of Afghans.
On Tuesday, a court order – preventing the media reporting details of a secret relocation programme – was lifted.
Read more from Sky News:
Minister defends handling of breach
The struggle for equality in Afghanistan
Afghan women throw babies to troops
Reuters file pic
Defence Secretary John Healey said about 6,900 Afghans and their family members have been relocated or were on their way to the UK under the previously secret scheme.
He said no one else from Afghanistan would be offered asylum, after a government review found little evidence of intent from the Taliban to seek retribution.
But the anonymous Afghan man who spoke to Sky News disputed this. He claimed the Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, were actively seeking people who worked with British forces.
“My family is finished,” he said. “I request… kindly request from the British government… the King… please evacuate us.
“Maybe tomorrow we will not be anymore. Please, please help us.”
World
Ross Edgley: The British ‘Thor’ swimming 1,000 miles around Iceland – and what happened when he met killer whales
Towering waves, freezing temperatures and even some inquisitive killer whales. Iceland is doing its best to defeat Ross Edgley.
Inspired by “Thor”, the British extreme athlete is in the middle of a challenge worthy of the Norse god – spending four months swimming 1,000 miles around the whole of Iceland in the name of science.
And while it comes with its challenges – a video of parts of his tongue falling off because of the salty sea water went viral – there have also been moments of beauty in the rugged Viking landscape.
“We’re on the northern coast right now,” Ross tells Sky News as he prepares to get back in the water.
“There’s nothing to stop the wind coming from the Arctic, and it’s just smashing into the north of Iceland. We’re miles out, just like a bobbing cork getting absolutely battered.”
Ross is making his way around Iceland clockwise after setting off from Reykjavik
Ross, from Cheshire, is no stranger to endurance events like this. In 2018, he swam nearly 1,800 miles around the coast of Great Britain and earned a Guinness World Record for swimming 317 miles along the Yukon River in Canada.
But the punishing cold as 39-year-old Ross swims 30km (18 miles) a day around Iceland is something else.
“The body just takes a consistent battering,” he says, characteristically cheery and enthusiastic despite everything.
“You just do your best to keep it in some sort of shape, controlling the inevitable breakdown of your body, hoping that you get back into Reykjavik.”
Some of the injuries Ross has picked up so far, and the salt water hinders healing
He’s eating between 10,000 and 15,000 calories a day – with pasta and his new favourite Icelandic liquorice as menu staples – just to keep going.
“You’re basically running through all of that food – I’m constantly saying it’s basically just an eating competition with a bit of swimming thrown in,” he chuckles. “But that’s genuinely what it is.”
His average day – storms permitting – sees Ross getting up and swimming for six hours, resting for six hours, and then getting back in the water to swim another six hours.
“You just do that on repeat. It’s really simple in theory, but brutal in reality.”
Ross is covering about 18 miles (30km) a day
To get ready for the cool Icelandic waters, Ross took inspiration from animals that have made it their home for thousands of years: whales and seals.
“I ended up putting on about 10-15 kilos of just pure fat. A bit of muscle as well but a lot of fat.
“When you look at what sort of animals survive in Iceland, there’s that idea of sea blubber. You want insulation, you want body fat.”
Perhaps unlike a seal however, Ross takes great care to defend the reputation of the killer whales that hunt in Icelandic seas.
“We’ve seen a lot, pods of them have come by and checked me out, wondering what the strange Englishman was doing in Icelandic waters, and then we went our separate ways.
“I want to combat some of the bad PR that orcas might have because there’s never been a verified case of an orca attacking a human in the wild. It just doesn’t exist.
“They’re amazing animals that deserve our respect and shouldn’t be feared.”
Ross back on board his support boat after swimming
There’s also a big scientific focus for Ross’s challenge as well.
“If we achieve this, it will achieve so much in terms of sports science – the first person to swim around Iceland. But that wasn’t a big enough reason to do it.”
Ross spoke to scientists who said that if he was “crazy enough” to want to do the swim, he would be able to collect daily samples of environmental DNA in the water, as well as levels of microplastics.
“By the end we’re just going to have this map of biodiversity around the whole coast of Iceland in a level of detail we’ve never really seen before. It’s going to be so comprehensive.
“So I think as the legacy of this swim, records and everything will be nice, but I actually think the science and the research that we contribute and give back will be unbelievable and actually make the chafing and losing parts of my tongue worth it.”
The swim is being paid for by a mix of sponsorships and self-funding.
Ross Edgley is swimming 1,000 miles around Iceland. Pic: James Appleton/BMW
Ross says he was inspired to take on the challenge in part by actor Chris Hemsworth and his role as the Norse god Thor, joking that the feat would be the closest thing to swimming around Asgard, the realm of the deities from ancient Scandinavia.
As he makes his way around the island, he gets to meet a local community where stories of Nordic gods are still an important part of life.
“It’s amazing, we’re just hearing these stories of Nordic folklore, sagas written about every single fjord we go around. It’s unbelievable.”
Ross and his team rest on land between swims
Fresh off one marathon swimming session, Ross and his team jumped into action to help the local community rescue 30 stranded whales.
“The team were absolutely exhausted… but having rescued the whales was the most rewarding moment as well.”
A moment of downtime on the boat. Pic: Ross Edgley/YouTube
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Ross set off on his swimming quest on 17 May, and it’s likely going to be a couple more months before he arrives back in Reykjavik.
He suggested that September is the goal, but added: “But you make plans and Iceland laughs at them.”
Picture credits: Ross Edgley/YouTube
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