Ramallah, September 2, 2024—Israeli forces killed three Palestinian boys in the northern occupied West Bank yesterday.
Cousins 17-year-old Abdullah Abdulnaser Abdullah Masoud and 12-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud Abdullah Masoud were shot and killed by Israeli forces around 3 p.m. on September 1 near Haifa street in Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Later that night, around 11:40 p.m. in Silat Al-Harithiya, located west of Jenin, an Israeli drone-fired missile targeted and killed 16-year-old Laith Marwan Qasem Shawahneh and critically injured another Palestinian child, who remains in the hospital.
“Israeli forces have deliberately killed at least five Palestinian children in the northern occupied West Bank since launching a massive military incursion on Wednesday,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Countries must immediately enact an arms embargo and sanction the Israeli government to protect Palestinian children and their families.”
Abdullah and Mohammad, both from Al-Yamoun village, west of Jenin, were riding on a motorcycle driven by Abdullah’s brother, 23-year-old Amir, around 3 p.m. on September 1. The two children sat behind Amir as they returned from Jenin after delivering bags of bread. They were chased by three Israeli military vehicles while traveling on Haifa Street, heading toward their village. As they were fleeing, Amir tried to turn left towards the entrance of Kafr Dan village, but lost control of the motorcycle, resulting in him and the two children falling to the ground.
Abdullah and Mohammad got up and ran towards the entrance of Kafr Dan village. Approximately five Israeli soldiers exited the military vehicles and opened fire on them from a distance of 40 meters (131 feet) away. Abdullah was struck by one bullet in the head, while Mohammad was struck by two bullets in the back, with one bullet exiting through his chest.
The soldiers prevented an ambulance from reaching them for at least 40 minutes and arrested the motorcycle driver. The children were transferred by ambulance to Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Around 11 p.m. that night, Israeli military vehicles entered the Palestinian town of Silat Al-Harithiya to the west of Jenin, prompting confrontations between Palestinian residents and Israeli soldiers. 16-year-old Laith Marwan Qasem Shawahneh and another Palestinian boy allegedly threw homemade explosive devices toward the Israeli military vehicles. About 40 minutes later, an Israeli drone-fired missile targeted the two children, causing shrapnel injuries and burns all over their bodies. Nearby civilians brought Laith and the second child to Al-Hadaf Medical Center in Al-Yamon, where Laith was pronounced dead on arrival. The second child was transported by ambulance to Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, where he remains in critical condition.
A large-scale Israeli military incursion, called "Operation Summer Camps,” launched around 12 a.m. on August 28 and is ongoing in Jenin city and refugee camp, targeting several refugee camps in the northern occupied West Bank. Dozens of Israeli military vehicles, accompanied by military bulldozers and supported by military aircraft, stormed the city and camp of Jenin and several towns in the Jenin Governorate including Kafr Dan and Al-Yamoun towns, along with storming of Nour Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem and Far'a refugee camp, south of Tubas.
Israeli forces deployed across the targeted refugee camps, seizing Palestinian homes to use as military bases and stationing snipers on the roofs of buildings, subjecting their residents to field investigations. The military bulldozers began destroying the civil infrastructure in Jenin city and camp, which led to the destruction of the main water networks and power outage in several neighborhoods in Jenin and surrounding villages.
Israeli forces besieged several hospitals in Jenin and impeded the movement of ambulances and paramedics. The large-scale incursion has resulted in the killing of at least 26 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including five children and many more are injured.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 73 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
154 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.
