Ramallah, December 15, 2025—Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in the northern occupied West Bank.
Mohammad Eyad Mohammad Abahra, 16, was shot and killed by Israeli forces around 9:30 p.m. on December 13 in an alleyway to a main street in the Ziyoud neighborhood in the Palestinian town of Silat al-Harithiya, northwest of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Mohammad allegedly participated in confrontations with Israeli forces alongside other young Palestinians who were throwing explosive devices toward a heavily armored Israeli military vehicle during a military incursion into Silat al-Harithiya when he was shot from a distance of about 15 to 20 meters (49 to 66 feet) away.
“Mohammad grew up in a hypermilitarized environment where Israeli soldiers regularly carry out military incursions into Palestinian communities, harass and detain Palestinians at checkpoints, and kill Palestinians, including children, with live ammunition with complete impunity,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Israeli soldiers continue targeting children with deadly force with no accountability because world leaders allow them to act without consequence.”
Mohammad was targeted by Israeli forces positioned inside a Palestinian home. He fell to the ground when several soldiers emerged and dragged him towards the outside entrance of the house. The soldiers prevented an ambulance from approaching Mohammad and left him bleeding for around 10 minutes. They placed Mohammad inside a military vehicle and then left the town. The Palestinian Ministry of Health received news of Mohammad's death around 10:50 p.m.
Israeli forces in several armored military vehicles entered Silat al-Harithiya around 8 p.m. on December 13 and the operation continued until around 11:30 p.m. They raided neighborhoods and conducted several patrols within the town, firing live ammunition at Palestinian youths confronting Israeli soldiers.
Due to the confiscation of Mohammad’s body, DCIP is not able to verify the location or number of bullet wounds that he sustained.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 54 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
Israeli forces have withheld the bodies of at least 62 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 56 Palestinian children’s bodies remain withheld by Israeli authorities. Israel’s practice of withholding Palestinian bodies is a form of collective punishment, a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, and deprives Palestinian families of the ability to lay their children to rest.
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.
