Ramallah, April 18, 2025—Isareli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy south of Nablus last night.
Jihad Adham Rebhi Adeli, 16, was shot and killed by Israeli forces around 9:15 p.m. on April 17 near the Palestinian town of Osarin, south of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Shortly after, Israeli forces closed off the area, located near the closed entrance to Osarin next to Route 90. About ten minutes later, a young man who was with Jihad who sustained injuries reached the center of Osarin and informed the residents that Jihad and a young man were shot by Israeli forces. Palestinian ambulances attempted to reach the scene and provide aid but were blocked by Israeli forces. Israeli authorities are withholding Jihad’s body.
“Jihad grew up in a hypermilitarized environment where no Palestinian child is safe from Israeli forces,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Now, even in death, Jihad cannot rest as Israeli authorities prevent his family from burying his body and mourning him. Jihad is one of dozens of Palestinian children whose bodies remain withheld after Israeli forces killed them in violation of international law.”
Israeli forces had set up an ambush in the area close to Jihad and the young men, according to information collected by DCIP.
Israeli forces have killed 22 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
Israeli forces have withheld the bodies of at least 47 Palestinian children since June 2016, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Six of the children’s bodies have since been released to their families, while 41 Palestinian children’s bodies remain withheld by Israeli authorities.
Israeli authorities’ practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which include absolute prohibitions on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as well as stipulate that parties of an armed conflict must bury the deceased in an honorable way. For families, the practice amounts to collective punishment in violation of international humanitarian law.
In September 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court approved the practice of confiscating human remains after several legal challenges to the policy. On November 27, 2019, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett ordered all bodies of Palestinians alleged to have attacked Israeli citizens or soldiers to be withheld and not returned to their families. Israel is the only country in the world with such a policy of confiscating human remains, according to Adalah.
