NEWSLINE PAPER,- In the final seconds of his life, Rami Hamdan Al-Halhouli lighted a firework above his head. Three quick cracks followed: the first was a police bullet fired; the second was a firework bursting over Rami's corpse, showering the surrounding area with red and gold lights; and the third was a firecracker escaping Rami's hand.
Playing outside his family's home with his brother and pals on Tuesday night was 12-year-old Rami al-Halhouli of Shuafat, a refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem. Rami hurled a firecracker high into the sky in the direction of the closest Israeli border police posts, encouraged by his buddies.
Film of the event reveals that Rami was struck by a bullet fired by a border policeman from a considerable distance before the fireworks could even burst. Later on, the police claimed that a man who had endangered the security guards by shooting aerial fireworks was shot once.
Rami's family claims that the gunfire mortally injured his heart. Despite all they did, he died at the scene from his wounds.
Rami's terrible death occurred during a spike of violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, overshadowed by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called Rami a "terrorist" and hailed the policeman who fired the fatal shot as a "hero and a warrior." Contrarily, Rami's family and neighbors describe him as a "good kid" who never acted violently.
Rami's dying circumstances have angered and upset Palestinians, who are wondering why a child should have to be killed. Even if Israeli police claim Rami posed a threat, his family maintains he was only playing with fireworks and had no bad intentions.
As Rami's family mourns his death, worries about the treatment of Palestinian children in the occupied territories and the use of force by Israeli security forces have been revived. A grim reminder of the ongoing battles and tensions in the region is the horrific death of Rami Al-Halhouli.