Ramallah, March 3, 2024—Israeli forces shot and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy yesterday in the central occupied West Bank.
Mohammad Khaled Taher Zaid, 13, was shot in the back by Israeli forces around 7:50 p.m. on March 2 in Jalazoun refugee camp, north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Mohammad was standing with a friend in front of a United Nations-run school located near the entrance to Jalazoun refugee camp and the illegal Jewish-only settlement of Beit El. Israeli forces deployed around 20–40 meters (65–130 feet) away fired live ammunition at the boys. Mohammad sustained three gunshot wounds to his back and thigh, and was transported by ambulance to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah and was pronounced dead around 9 p.m.
“Israeli forces continue to escalate military operations in the occupied West Bank where the unlawful killing of Palestinian children is the norm,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “As Palestinian children are increasingly targets in the West Bank, Israeli forces enjoy complete impunity despite clear evidence of war crimes.”
Mohammad’s friend was injured in the incident but was able to make his way to Jalazoun camp to report that Mohammad had been shot. Meanwhile, Israeli forces confiscated Mohammad’s body for about an hour before informing Palestinian authorities that they returned his body to the sidewalk near the entrance to Jalazoun refugee camp, according to information collected by DCIP.
105 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.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 24 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
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 willful killings.
