Clashes were reported between Palestinians and Israeli troopers on Friday on the funeral of Rayan Yaser Suleiman, a 7-years-old boy who was chased by Israeli troops on Thursday and died out of fear. At least nine Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces across the West Bank on Friday.
Some reports said he died after falling from a significant height while running away from Israeli troopers in the Tequa, Bethlehem, and the concerned doctors at the hospital said he died due to excess adrenaline secretion, which caused the increase of his heartbeat, a cardiac arrest.
While announcing the death of the child, the Beit Jala hospital said they failed to revive him.
“The most probable scenario of what happened is that under stress, he had excess adrenaline secretion, which caused the increase of his heartbeat, he developed cardiac arrest and a forensic doctor is currently conducting an autopsy on Rayan,” a paediatric specialist, Mohamed Ismail told Al Jazeera.
He was in the second standard at the Al-Khansa School in the Bethlehem District.
Hundreds of mourners on Friday thronged at his funeral outside his stone house in Tequa, a Palestinian town bordering an illegal Jewish settlement with some 4,000 Israelis.
The ministry mourned Suleiman as “a martyr” and called on the international community to “hold the occupation accountable for its crimes”.
The Israeli army said it is investigating the case, according to Haaretz.
Meanwhile, US State Department deputy spokesman Vidant Patel said the US called for a “thorough and immediate” investigation after the killing of a 7-year-old Palestinian boy while the European Union said it was “shocked” by Rayan’s “tragic death”.