Ramallah, November 18, 2024—Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy in the northern occupied West Bank today.
Nour Ahmad Mustafa Arafat, 17, was shot at least three times by an Israeli soldier around 5:50 p.m. near the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq mosque in the eastern part of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Israeli military forces entered Nablus around 3:55 p.m. and Palestinian residents confronted Israeli forces. Soldiers exited heavily armored military vehicles in the Al-Masaken Al-Shabiya area and began firing tear gas canisters toward Palestinians. One Israeli soldier shot Nour, who was standing 30 meters (98 feet) away, with live ammunition, striking him in the side, chest, and shoulder.
“As Israeli forces bomb and starve Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, they are targeting children in the occupied West Bank with lethal force,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Years of systemic impunity has created a situation where Israeli forces kill Palestinian children without limit or consequence.”
Nour laid on the ground for about three minutes until a Palestinian ambulance arrived, and as soon as he was placed into the ambulance, an Israeli military vehicle obstructed the ambulance’s path. Several soldiers opened the ambulance and conducted an inspection before allowing it to proceed.
The ambulance brought Nour to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where doctors immediately brought him into the operating room. After about 40 minutes, Nour was pronounced dead.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 88 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
169 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.
