Ramallah, November 3, 2023—Israeli forces killed two Palestinian boys in the occupied West Bank today.
Yamen Mahmoud Nabil Jarrar, 16, was killed by Israeli forces using a drone-fired missile around 4:30 a.m. on November 3, west of Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Yamen was allegedly throwing homemade explosive devices toward Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers that entered the area alongside Israeli special forces and reinforcements around 10 p.m. to conduct arrest operations in the Al-Hadaf neighborhood, west of Jenin refugee camp. Volunteer paramedics carried Yamen to an ambulance, which brought him to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
Mohammad Wael Ata Al-Jabari, 17, was shot in the chest by Israeli forces around 1:30 p.m. on November 3 in the Bir al-Hummus area of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Mohammad was participating in a march from the Al-Hussein Mosque in Hebron toward Bab Al-Zawiya, where many Israeli forces were deployed. He was transferred to Alia Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival around 2:40 p.m.
“Israeli forces are escalating military attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, now regularly using weaponized drones and attack aircraft to target densely-populated residential areas,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “For years, Israeli forces have unlawfully killed Palestinian children at protests and the world accepted it, now Israeli forces are expanding lethal and unlawful tactics against an occupied population where children are sure to bear the brunt of Israeli aggression.”
Israeli forces destroyed roads as well as electricity and water infrastructure leading into Jenin refugee camp. At least five Palestinians were killed during the Israeli military incursion, including 16-year-old Yamen.
Yamen was a participant in The Freedom Theater’s Child and Youth Program in Jenin refugee camp, which uses arts and theater to help young Palestinians tell their stories and work through trauma.
We are sorry to share more terrible news.
— The Freedom Theatre (@freedom_theatre) November 3, 2023
Last night, 17-year-old Yamen Mahmoud Nabil Jarrar, a youth participant at The Freedom Theatre was also murdered by the Israeli army pic.twitter.com/wxJBx8KYi8
Yamen is the seventh Palestinian child killed using an Israeli weaponized drone-fired missile this year, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Prior to the killing of 15-year-old Ashraf Morad Mahmoud Al-Sa’di in June, the last time Israeli forces had used weaponized drone strikes to target Palestinians in the occupied West Bank was during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
Israeli forces have escalated military operations throughout the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, carrying out increasing numbers of search and arrest operations.
43 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 bombardment on the Gaza Strip dubbed Operation Iron Swords.
So far this year, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 83 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 72 Palestinian children with live ammunition, seven Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, and four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopter.
At least 132 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.
