Palestinians ask UN aid to get lost ball

Retrieving a ball from the other side of a foreboding fence is something of a rite of passage for many children, but when a group of Palestinian kids accidentally booted a soccer ball over the West Bank security barrier, they decided they needed professional help. So they turned to the United Nations.

In a social media message on Sunday to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the kids of Kafr Sur, near Tulkarem, requested that the United Nations pressure Israeli authorities to return the ball, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.

According to the news agency, a local child named Amir kicked the soccer ball across the security barrier, beyond a barbed wire fence and into an area under Israel Defense Forces control.

The children claimed they were unable to search for the ball, as the area was declared a security buffer zone, and said that the Israeli soldiers had infringed on their basic human rights, Ma’an reported.

Amir’s teammates said they were concerned that the ball would never be returned to them.

The UN had not responded to the children’s request as of Sunday evening.