A
video circulating on social media appears to show Syrian rebels
beheading a Palestinian boy who they accused of being a pro-government
fighter.
By taking one glance at the child - the argument that he was a fighter is immediately disapproved
The video, posted online on Tuesday, shows a group of men in the back of a truck cutting off the head of the terrified boy.
Before
the gruesome murder, the men accuse the boy of being a member of the
Liwa al-Quds (Jerusalem brigade), a Palestinian armed group fighting
alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.
The
Jerusalem brigade posted a statement on its official Facebook page on
Wednesday, identifying the boy as 12-year-old Abdullah Issa, who they
said was not a fighter.
"He lived in al-Mashhad
[Aleppo] with his family, among multiple poor families that live in the
area under the control of terrorists," read the statement, adding that
the boy was ill.
"By taking one glance at the child - the argument that he was a fighter is immediately disapproved," the group said.
In the video, one of the rebels shouts: "He sent us a child today, he no longer has men!" seemingly referring Assad.
"We
will leave no one in Handarat," they added, referring to the city north
of Aleppo where heavy fighting between rebels and government forces has
been taking place.
The rebels have been identified as
members of the Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement. On Tuesday, the movement
published a press release on its Twitter page condemning the killing of
the boy and calling the beheading an "individual error that does not
represent the general policy of the movement".
The
United States, which has previously provided military support to the
Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement, said it was "seeking more information"
and that it could not confirm the "appalling report" at a press briefing
on Tuesday.
"If we can prove that this was indeed
what happened and this group was involved in it, I think it would
certainly give us pause," State Department Spokesman Mark Toner told
reporters, after being asked whether this incident would affect US
assistance to this specific group.
The UK-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the video shows
fighters from rebel factions "slaughtering a boy member from the gunmen
loyal to the regime".
"The boy was captured during the clashes at Handarat camp this morning," the Observatory said in a statement.
A
report published earlier this month by human rights group Amnesty
International details several "war crimes and other violations of
international humanitarian law" committed by the Nour al-Din al-Zinki
Movement, as well as other rebel groups, throughout the Syrian Civil
War.
The alleged war crimes include abductions and torture.
Citing
sources close to the United States "northern operation command," a
coordination body allegedly responsible for providing military support
to rebels, Amnesty's report says the Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement had
in the past received military and financial aid from the US, Britain,
France, Turkey and several Gulf states.
The funding was
apparently halted in September 2015 when the movement joined two other
groups that were accused of kidnapping Italian aid workers.
The
death toll in the Syrian conflict, which began with mostly unarmed
demonstrations against al-Assad in March 2011, has risen to more than
280,000 people, while half the country's population have been forced
from their homes, according to United Nations estimates.
Staffan
de Mistura, UN special envoy to Syria, estimated last month that the
actual death toll could be as high as 400,000 people.
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