Ramallah, October 27, 2023—Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in the northern occupied West Bank early this morning.
Jawad Abdulsalam Turki Qatban, 16, was shot in the chest by an Israeli sniper around 2:40 a.m. on October 27 near Al-Awda roundabout, west of Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Israeli forces accompanied by a bulldozer entered the Al-Hadaf neighborhood near Jenin refugee camp around 1 a.m. and armed Palestinians confronted Israeli forces until about 5 a.m. Jawad’s body was found around 5:30 a.m. and transported to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children in unprecedented numbers as the international community considers whether humanitarian aid should be delivered as bombs freely rein down or not,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “When confronted with widespread and systematic Israeli attacks against an overwhelmingly youthful population in Gaza and the routine unlawful killing of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, the international community has done nothing except perpetuate impunity.”
Video surveillance footage shows Jawad sustained a gunshot wound to the chest then ran to an area near Al-Awda roundabout, where his body was found several hours later. In the same location, an Israeli drone fired a missile that exploded near Jawad, but doctors did not find any burns on his body so determined that Jawad was unharmed by the drone-fired missile.
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during the incursion into Jenin, including Jawad.
Israeli forces have escalated military operations throughout the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, carrying out increasing numbers of search and arrest operations.
Throughout the occupied West Bank, Palestinians have organized marches and demonstrations over the past week in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip bearing the brunt of Israeli land, sea, and air attacks after Palestinian armed groups fired rockets toward Israel and breached the Israeli perimeter fence surrounding Gaza early on October 7, launching attacks inside Israel. Israeli forces initiated a large-scale military operation dubbed Operation Iron Swords.
35 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 75 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 67 Palestinian children with live ammunition, four Palestinian children were killed in a drone strike, and four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopter.
At least 103 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.
