Israeli drone strike kills 17-year-old Palestinian boy in Tammoun

Jan 30, 2025
Jihad Naser Yousef Bani Matar, 17, was killed in an Israeli drone strike on January 29 in the Palestinian town of Tammoun. (Photo: Courtesy of the Bani Matar family)

Ramallah, January 30, 2025—An Israeli drone strike killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy in the northern occupied West Bank last night. 

Jihad Naser Yousef Bani Matar, 17, was killed by two consecutive Israeli drone-fired missiles that targeted the courtyard of a Palestinian home in Tammoun, south of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank, around 9:20 p.m. on January 29, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. There was no presence of Israeli forces in Tammoun at the time and the attack occurred suddenly and without warning. The strikes killed 10 Palestinians, including Jihad. 

“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. “This targeted attack makes Jihad the 10th Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2025, and January is still not over. No one has been held responsible for killing these ten children.”

Ambulances transported all the victims to the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital. Jihad, who sustained shrapnel wounds and burns all over his body, was declared dead on arrival. 

The victims included eight individuals who were reportedly wanted by the Israeli military and whose homes had been repeatedly raided by Israeli forces. 

Since January 21, the Israeli military has carried out massive attacks, forcible displacements, and destruction of civilian infrastructure dubbed “Operation Iron Wall” in the northern occupied West Bank with a focus on Jenin and its refugee camp.

Israeli forces have killed 10 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Six children were killed by Israeli drone strikes and four children were shot and killed with live ammunition. 

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.



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