WEST BANK, (PIC)
The Palestinian human rights activist Ayed Abu Qtaish said on Sunday that Israel has killed 244 children in the occupied West Bank since October 2023 until today, pointing out that the absence of accountability grants Israeli soldiers a “green light” to continue their violations.
For his part, the spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund “UNICEF” James Elder said, in a statement on May 13, that “children are paying an unbearable price” as a result of the escalation of military operations and settler attacks throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Elder also pointed out that since January 2025 until May 13, at least one Palestinian child was killed per week on average, explaining that 70 Palestinian children were killed during this period, and that 93 percent of them died by Israeli forces.
Martyrdom of 244 children
Commenting on Elder’s statement, Abu Qtaish told Anadolu that the number of Palestinian children who were killed by Israel in the West Bank since October 2023 has reached 244 children.
He explained that during the period extending from October 2023 until the end of the same year, the occupation forces killed 81 Palestinian children in the West Bank, “which means that one child was being killed daily.”
He added that during the year 2024, the occupation forces killed 93 Palestinian children in the West Bank, at a rate of one child every four days, pointing out that since the beginning of the year 2025 until now, 70 Palestinian children were killed, meaning at a rate of one child weekly.
The human rights activist confirmed that these violations represent an “indication of the absence of accountability for Israeli soldiers involved in killing Palestinian children,” adding that “the lack of accountability constitutes a green light to continue killing children.”
He also pointed out that the occupation soldiers “do not stop at shooting children, but they also prevent ambulances or their families from reaching them to provide the necessary first aid.”
He added that “these violations indicate that the goal of shooting is killing, although the circumstances do not require the use of bullets, because the child does not pose a danger to the Israeli forces.”
Absence of investigations
Regarding the Israeli authorities’ position on the escalation in targeting Palestinian children, Abu Qtaish said that they “do not open serious investigations into the matter.”
He added, “Even in the rare cases in which an investigation is opened, no soldier is convicted for these crimes.” He considered that the matter “does not relate to individual behaviors from soldiers who do not adhere to orders, but it is linked to the standards and instructions of shooting.”
He continued, “Israel soldiers shoot to kill Palestinian children due to the absence of accountability.”
The human rights activist warned that “Israel violates the rights stipulated in international conventions, especially the rights of the child, on top of which is the right to education.”
He described the journey of Palestinian children to their schools as a “journey fraught with dangers,” explaining that “in many cases, schools are subjected to attacks by the Israeli army or settlers.”
Schools in the West Bank have previously been subjected to attacks by Israeli settlers, which led to closing roads and preventing students from reaching their schools.
An attack by settlers on the village of Umm al-Khair in al-Khalil governorate, south of the West Bank, on Saturday caused the closure of a road that prevented Palestinian children from reaching their schools, on the first school day after an interruption that lasted about 40 days, in violation of their right to education.
Abu Qtaish also pointed out that “Palestinian children are subjected to violations that infringe on their freedom. They are also exposed to different forms of torture and mistreatment during investigation.”
He stressed that “the most prominent thing that distinguishes the arbitrary arrest of Palestinian children is issuing administrative detention orders against them, meaning detaining them without directing charges,” explaining that “the number of children arrested administratively constitutes more than half of the total of arrested children.”
Since the start of the war of genocide in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the occupation army escalated its violations in the West Bank, including daily raids, arrests, and shooting at Palestinian civilians.
The Israeli occupation army and settlers’ attacks the West Bank since then have resulted in the martyrdom of 1,162 Palestinians, and the injury of about 12,245 others, in addition to the arrest of nearly 23,000 people, according to official Palestinian data.
