Ramallah, September 7, 2024—An Israeli sniper shot and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in the northern occupied West Bank yesterday.
Banah Amjad Bakr Laboum, 13, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper around 4:50 p.m. on September 6 in the Palestinian village of Qariout, southeast of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Banah had opened a window of her family’s house, located in the center of the village, where Israeli soldiers were stationed in an alley directly across from the house. An Israeli sniper shot Banah in the chest after she opened the window and was struck by a bullet in the chest from a distance of 150 to 200 meters (492 to 656 feet) away. Banah was covered in blood and unconscious. Her father immediately carried her to an ambulance close to the house and transferred her to Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus city, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Palestinian children live in a hyper-militarized context where Israeli civilians illegally settled in occupied territory are armed by the Israeli government as a matter of official policy,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Israeli soldiers, police, and private security staff not only protect Israeli settler populations, but they also aid, abet, and perpetrate unlawful killings of Palestinians, including children.”
Around 2 p.m. on September 6, groups of Israeli settlers attacked the village of Qariout, which is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlements of Shiloh, Eli, and Rachel. The residents confronted the settlers to protect their homes and property, forcing the settlers to retreat to the outskirts.
Around half an hour later, Israeli forces entered the village, firing indiscriminately at homes and residents, and confrontation erupted between the forces and residents by throwing stones. The Israeli raid on the village continued until around 6 p.m. on the same day, resulting in the killing of Banah and injuring two Palestinian youths.
Banah is the fourth Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2024, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Early this month, an Israeli sniper fatally shot 16-year-old Loujain Osama Abdulraouf Mosleh through a window while she was inside her home during an Israeli military incursion into Kafr Dan.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 77 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
158 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.
