Ramallah, November 26, 2023—Israeli forces have killed four Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in the last 24 hours.
Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Ahmad Mohammad Hamed Abu Al-Haija, 17-year-old Mahmoud Khaled Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, and 14-year-old Ammar Mohammad Faisal Abu Al-Wafa during an Israeli military incursion into Jenin the evening of November 25, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Mohammad Riad Fathi Saleh Farhan, 15, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the central occupied West Bank city of Al-Bireh, near Ramallah, around 8 p.m. last night, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
“While there is a so-called truce with Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, Israeli forces continue to target and kill Palestinian children throughout the occupied West Bank with complete impunity,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “In just the last 24 hours, Israeli forces have shot and killed four Palestinian boys in the occupied West Bank, including one who was standing inside his own home, and prevented paramedics from reaching them to provide medical care. As a result, all four boys were dead on arrival when they reached the hospital.”
Ammar Mohammad Faisal Abu Al-Wafa, 14, was shot in the abdomen by an Israeli sniper from a distance of about 200 to 250 meters (656 to 820 feet) around 6:30 p.m. on November 25 while he was standing near his house with a group of friends in the Al-Damj neighborhood of Jenin refugee camp. Ammar’s father drove him to Al-Razi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Around the same time, Ahmad Mohammad Hamed Abu Al-Haija, 16, was recording the Israeli military incursion on his cell phone when an Israeli soldier inside a heavily armored Israeli military vehicle shot him in the chest from a distance of 120 to 150 meters (393 to 492 feet) near the cinema roundabout in the center of Jenin. Israeli forces opened fire on the group of people Ahmad was with, wounding many. An ambulance transported Ahmad to Al-Razi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Mahmoud Khaled Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, 17, was shot in the abdomen while he was standing at a window inside his house in the Al-Zahra neighborhood, south of Jenin refugee camp, around midnight. An Israeli sniper stationed in a building across the street about 300 meters (984 feet) away shot Mahmoud, then Israeli forces entered his family’s apartment. Israeli forces searched the apartment, confiscating Mahmoud’s cell phone and identity card, as Mahmoud’s father called an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived outside the building, Israeli soldiers searched the paramedics and prevented them from reaching Mahmoud for about 40 minutes. Eventually, the ambulance brought Mahmoud to Al-Razi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 1 a.m.
Israeli forces carried out a ground and aerial incursion into Jenin beginning around 6 p.m. on November 25 that continued until about 6:30 a.m. the next day. The Israeli military besieged Jenin Governmental Hospital, near Jenin refugee camp, and armed Palestinians confronted Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces killed five Palestinians during the military incursion, including three children.
Mohammad Riad Fathi Saleh Farhan, 15, was shot by Israeli forces around 8 p.m. on November 25 in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank. Mohammad was participating in confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces when an Israeli soldier shot him in the stomach from a distance of 150 to 200 meters (492 to 656 feet). After Mohammad fell to the ground, Israeli soldiers surrounded him. Israeli forces opened fire on a Palestinian ambulance attempting to reach Mohammad, and paramedics could not reach him for about 45 minutes. Once the ambulance brought Mohammad to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
60 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 dubbed Operation Iron Swords.
So far this year, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 100 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 86 Palestinian children with live ammunition, nine 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.
At least 215 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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.
