Ramallah, January 15, 2025—An Israeli drone strike killed a 14-year-old Palestinian child in Jenin refugee camp last night.
Mahmoud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbieh, 14, was killed by three Israeli drone-fired missiles that targeted a group of civilians last night around 10 p.m. in the western part of the Jenin refugee camp square in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Mahmoud was sitting with his father, who sustained critical injuries, along with a group of young Palestinian men. Palestinian ambulances brought the victims to the Jenin Governmental Hospital, where Mahmoud was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Israeli forces routinely use aerial weapons in densely populated civilian areas with no regard for Palestinian children’s lives,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “The square in Jenin refugee camp is a community gathering point and a bustling area where residents do their daily shopping, and Israeli forces targeted Palestinians, including Mahmoud, with deadly drone strikes when they posed no threat to the Israeli military.”
Mahmoud suffered critical injuries to the upper part of his body, according to information collected by DCIP. His father’s condition is stable.
The consecutive drone strikes killed six Palestinians, including Mahmoud.
Israeli forces have killed five Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Four children were killed by Israeli drone strikes and one child was shot and killed with live ammunition.
179 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023, according to documentation collected by DCIP, when the Israeli military began a full-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
In 2024, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 93 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 71 Palestinian children with live ammunition, 17 Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, three Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli warplane airstrike, one child was killed by Israeli-fired ground shell, and one child was killed by unexploded ordnance (UXO) left behind by Israeli forces.
