'We won't give up' Family of boy killed by Israeli police want justice

Rami Halhouli had just lit a firework in East Jerusalem to celebrate the end of another day R of Ramadan when his life was cut short.

- Lorenzo Tondo, Sufian Taha 

As the 12-year-old hoisted the firework in the air, he was shot in the chest by Israeli police standing on a watchtower overlooking Shuafat refugee camp.

Rami fell to the ground as the firework exploded and painted the night sky with a flash of red stars.

Israeli police said the firework was directed toward its forces and endangered them.

"He was just a little boy," Rami's father, Ali Halhouli, 61, said in an interview. "The watchtower was only 50 metres away. What harm could a firework possibly do? Why did they need to shoot him, aiming at his chest?"

In the aftermath of Rami's death on 12 March a video of his last moments went viral.

Human rights activists have said the death shines a light on the sharp rise in the number of unjust killings of Palestinian children by Israeli forces since the Hamas attacks of 7 October.

Rami's family think invoking the Gaza war is a distraction.

"My son would have been killed even if there was no war going on," Halhouli said. "Because that's how the Israeli military and police operate. It's certainly not the first time this has happened." The video clip, filmed on a mobile phone by one of Rami's friends, shows Rami, his brother, and four friends lighting fireworks.