Ramallah, June 12, 2024—Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy in Kafr Dan, northwest of Jenin, yesterday.
Ahmad Mohammad Khalil Samoudi, 17, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper around 6:30 p.m. on June 11 on Al-Mayadeen road in the center of Kafr Dan town, northwest of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Ahmad and another child were allegedly carrying homemade explosive devices and waiting for the passage of Israeli military vehicles. An Israeli sniper targeted the two children with six bullets from a distance of 100 to 150 meters (328 to 492 feet) away. Ahmad was struck with a bullet in his leg, fell to the ground and started asking for help, while the other child was struck with a bullet in the left thigh and managed to escape. The Israeli sniper shot at Ahmad again, striking him in the chest and head. Subsequently, an Israeli military vehicle approached Ahmad, and the driver got out to shoot him three more times, staying near him for around five to eight minutes. During this time, Israeli forces blocked a Palestinian ambulance from reaching Ahmad as he lay wounded. Once Israeli forces withdrew, the Palestinian ambulance transported Ahmad to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Israeli forces shot Ahmad, waited until he fell to the ground, then shot him several more times, then blocked paramedics from reaching him until they were confident he bled out,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “The United States must stop sending weapons to the Israeli military that are used to kill Palestinian children without restraint, whether in Gaza or the West Bank.”
Around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, Israeli special forces stormed Kafr Dan, using two civilian vehicles with Palestinian plates. The units surrounded a house in the western neighborhood of the town and engaged in clashes and confrontations with Palestinians.
The clashes spread to the surrounding neighborhood, prompting Israeli military reinforcements, including two U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopters firing machine guns, to arrive from the Mevo Dotan military camp near Yabad. The military forces expanded confrontations across several neighborhoods, raiding homes and high-rise buildings to use as sniping and observation points.
The military incursion in the town continued until around 8:30 p.m., during which the special units targeted the same house with shoulder-fired Energa shells, causing severe damage and making it uninhabitable, and killing six Palestinians, including Ahmad.
Ahmad Samoudi is the older brother of 12-year-old Mahmoud Samoudi, who was shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition in the abdomen around 10 a.m. on September 28, 2022 in the Al-Zahra neighborhood of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. The bullet entered Mahmoud’s left side and exited from his right side causing severe bleeding and damage to his colon, kidneys, and bladder. Mahmoud succumbed to his wounds on October 10.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 51 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
132 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.
