Ramallah, January 8, 2025—Israeli forces killed three Palestinian children in drone strikes in the Palestinian village of Tammoun in the northern occupied West Bank in the last 24 hours.
Hamza Ammar Ahmad Bsharat, 10, and Reda Ali Ahmad Bsharat, eight, were killed in an Israeli drone strike around 9:30 a.m. this morning in front of their homes in the Al-Mashmas area of western Tammoun in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Yesterday, around 2 a.m., 17-year-old Suleiman Mustafa Suleiman Qutaishat was killed in an Israeli drone strike, also in the Palestinian town of Tammoun. In each instance, Israeli forces deliberately blocked paramedics from reaching the injured children.
“We will never know if these children might have survived this attack if the Israeli forces had not blocked their access to critical medical care,” reflected Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “This deliberate obstruction of medical aid reflects the Israeli military’s routine disregard for the protections afforded to medical personnel and infrastructure under international law, often intentionally targeting these entities and rendering essential health resources for Palestinian children ineffective.”
Hamza and Reda, along with their 23-year-old cousin Adam Bsharat, were killed in an Israeli drone strike around 9:30 a.m. on January 8 as they sat outside their homes, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Their family, who were inside the home, heard the explosion and waited for the dust and smoke to settle to see what had occurred. When they saw the wounded bodies on the ground, they rushed to them, only to be blocked by Israeli soldiers, who threatened them with weapons and prevented them from reaching their injured children. Israeli forces delayed ambulance vehicles from reaching the scene for over an hour before eventually transporting the children and young man via Israeli military vehicle to an unknown location.
Israeli forces were positioned around 750 meters (half a mile) away and there were no confrontations in the area.
After the Israeli military withdrew from Tammoun around 11:00 a.m., the Palestinian Liaison was informed by the Israeli side that the three people had been killed, and their bodies were being held by the Israeli military. At approximately 4:30 p.m., the Palestinian Red Crescent Society retrieved their bodies at the Tayasir checkpoint east of Tubas and transported them to the Tubas Turkish Government Hospital for examination. They sustained extensive shrapnel injuries across their bodies, particularly in the upper regions.
Suleiman, while moving through the Al-Batta area in the south of Tammoun, was targeted by an Israeli drone strike around 2 a.m. on January 7, according to documentation collected by DCIP. A Palestinian ambulance and paramedics arrived to evacuate Suleiman but were delayed twice: first by Israeli forces blocking access to the scene, and again en route to Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital, where they were stopped and harassed by Israeli soldiers. Upon arrival at the hospital, Suleiman was pronounced dead. He sustained multiple shrapnel injuries to his upper body, specifically his head and neck, according to information collected by DCIP.
Around 11:30 p.m. on January 6, the Israeli military launched an incursion into the Palestinian town of Tammoun which continued until around 10:30 a.m. on January 7. Israeli forces carried out a repeat incursion into Tammoun on January 8 beginning around 7 a.m. and lasting until about 11 a.m.
Israeli forces have killed four Palestinian children in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
178 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.
Under international law, children are entitled to special protections, which necessitate that they receive the care and aid that they need during times of armed conflict. Palestinian children like Suleiman, Hamza and Reda are systematically denied that right, as Israeli forces simultaneously continue to indiscriminately and fatally target children throughout occupied Palestinian territory. These ongoing assaults on children’s lives are perpetuated by Israel’s entrenched culture of impunity, which continues to claim the lives of Palestinian children nearly every day.
