Ramallah, August 6, 2024—Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Tubas early this morning.
Bilal Izzuddin Mohammad Sawafta, 15, was shot and killed around 1:30 a.m. on August 6 near the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital, north of the city of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Bilal was standing near the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital, while the Israeli military vehicles and special forces were withdrawing and started shooting toward Palestinians in the area of the hospital.
“Bilal grew up in a hyper militarized environment where Israeli soldiers regularly enter Palestinian communities to kill and arrest Palestinians, including children,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Israeli forces routinely shoot to kill in situations not justified by international law.”
Bilal was shot by an Israeli soldier inside a heavily armored military vehicle from a distance of 20 meters (66 feet) away and struck by two bullets in his abdomen and shoulder. A group of Palestinians transferred him directly to the Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Around 9:30 p.m. on Monday, August 5, Israeli special units covertly entered the Palestinian village of Aqaba, north of Tubas, using civilian vehicles with Palestinian license plates. They surrounded a Palestinian house in the village's center, and positioned snipers on nearby rooftops.
Israeli military reinforcements arrived, leading to clashes between Palestinian youths and the Israeli forces. The military operation resulted in killing four Palestinians, including Bilal, and injuring seven others.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 61 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
142 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to documentation collected by DCIP, when the Israeli military began a full-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
In 2023, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 121 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 103 Palestinian children with live ammunition, 13 Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopter, and one child was killed in an Israeli warplane airstrike.
Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present. However, investigations and evidence collected by DCIP regularly suggest that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.
