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.”
The cardinals have arrived, the finishing touches are being made; Vatican City is preparing for an election like no other.
On Wednesday, the papal conclave begins and many visitors to St Peter’s Square already have a clear view on what they would like the outcome to be.
“I want a liberal pope,” says Joyce who has travelled to Rome from the US.
“My number one is Pierbattista Pizzaballa,” says blogger Teodorita Giovannella referencing the 60-year-old Italian cardinal.
Rome resident Michele Rapinesi thinks the next pope will be the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, who was Pope Francis’ number two.
Joyce has travelled all the way to Rome from the US
Michele Rapinesi speaks to Siobhan Robbins
Although the job of selecting the next pontiff lies with 133 cardinal electors, Ms Giovannella and Mr Rapinesi are among 75,000 Italians playing an online game trying to predict who they’ll pick.
Fantapapa is a similar format to fantasy football, but teams are made up of prospective pontiffs.
Ms Giovannella has chosen three popular Italians as her favourites: Cardinals Pizzaballa, Zuppi and Parolin.
After 47 years she wants an Italian pope but believes an Asian or African would be a good “plot twist”.
Despite the growing speculation and excitement, for the cardinal electors the papal conclave is the serious and sombre process of choosing the next leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion followers.
Teodorita Giovannella is hoping the next pope will be a fellow Italian
To keep the vote secret, they are locked in the Sistine Chapel which has been swept for hidden cameras, recording equipment and bugs.
The windows are covered to keep the outside world out and to stop drones from spying.
Mobile phones are banned and signal jammers have been installed to help stop any information being leaked.
Ballots are burned after they are cast and a plume of coloured smoke shows people if a new pope has been chosen.
Read more:
How Pope Francis heralded a new kind of leadership for Catholic Church
When does conclave start and how does it work?
How does the Sistine Chapel prepare for conclave?
Preparations inside the Sistine Chapel
The cardinal who is elected will become one of the most powerful men in the world and will set the course for the Catholic Church for years to come, making decisions which will affect the lives of millions of people worldwide.
Pope Francis’ 12-year reign pulled the church in a more progressive direction.
His fight for migrants and climate change made him a muse for Roman street artist Mauro Pallotta.
He met him five times and painted more than 30 pictures of him, celebrating his life on the walls of Rome.
Siobhan Robbins with Rome street artist Mauro Pallotta
One of Mr Pallotta’s artworks of Pope Francis
One shows Francis with a catapult shooting out hearts.
“It depicts the strong love he had for people,” Mr Pallotta explains.
In another, he wears a cape and is depicted as a superhero.
“I hope the new pope continues the way of Pope Francis and remembers the poor people of the world,” he says.
Whether the next pontiff is another pope of the people, a progressive or conservative will soon be decided by the cardinals.
Their choice will determine if the Catholic Church continues down the route set by Francis or takes a different path.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
Read more:
Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
Seriously ill children from Gaza allowed into UK
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
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