Ramallah, April 24, 2025—Israeli forces shot a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the head with a rubber-coated metal bullet in Jerusalem earlier this month.
Amir Rami Ibrahim Haddad, 12, was shot in the head with a rubber-coated metal bullet by Israeli forces on April 10 around 4:30 p.m. during a military incursion into Shuafat refugee camp, near occupied East Jerusalem, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Amir was buying food for his pet birds on the same street as the military incursion and left the pet store on his bicycle. As he approached the camp’s gate, an Israeli soldier shot Amir in the head from a distance of 25 meters (82 feet). Amir was first brought to the camp’s medical center, where medical staff stabilized his condition, before the Palestinian Red Crescent Society transported him to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem to receive treatment for a skull fracture.
“The Israeli military’s own regulations state that rubber-coated metal bullets should never be fired at a person’s upper body and should never be fired at a child,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Amir will be dealing with the consequences of this injury for the rest of his life. If the Israeli military cannot follow its own rules, much less international law, world leaders must take urgent and firm action to stand up for Palestinian children’s rights.”
Israeli soldiers detained the ambulance transporting Amir at the Issawiya military checkpoint and the medic was questioned before being permitted to continue to the hospital.
Amir sustained a skull fracture that impacted his optic nerve, leading to a loss of eye movement in his left eye, according to information collected by DCIP. Doctors performed surgery to partially restore movement in his eye, but Amir continues to be affected by a hematoma and bleeding in the brain.
Across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli forces employ rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters, water cannons, sound grenades, and other ‘non-fatal riot dispersal methods’ to target Palestinians, including children. While Israeli military regulations restrict the parameters and manner of their use, the excessive and improper use of so-called crowd control weapons can cause serious injury, permanent disability, or even death, particularly in children.
In a 2013 report, human rights group B’Tselem noted that the Israeli military’s regulations clearly state that rubber-coated metal bullets “may not be fired at women or children.”
The regulations also require that rubber-coated metal bullets only be fired at the legs, not upper bodies, of “inciters, key disrupters of order or individuals endangering the well-being of a soldier or another individual.” Military regulations further stipulate that a soldier must be at least 50 to 60 meters (165 to 195 feet) away from their target when firing rubber-coated metal bullets.
Global trade and manufacture of kinetic impact projectiles, including rubber-coated metal bullets, is poorly regulated despite widespread documentation of law enforcement worldwide firing these projectiles at civilians’ heads and chests, according to a 2023 report by Amnesty International.
In its Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement report, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights recommends the prohibition of rubber-coated metal bullets, noting that UN peacekeepers are prohibited from using such projectiles due to the high risk of serious injury or death when used improperly.
International agreements, such as the Arms Trade Treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly, aim to create international regulations for the transfer of arms and munitions by states, which could prevent such projectiles from being abused by states like Israel. Yet, such regulation by both public and private actors remains free from strong deterrents or international accountability, continuing to put Palestinian children at risk.
