Ramallah, December 5, 2024—An Israeli settler guard shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Jerusalem on December 3.
Omar Hussam Yaqoub Shuwaiki, 15, was shot and killed around 9 p.m. on December 3 near Jabal al-Mandub area in the Silwan neighborhood, southeast of the Old City of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Omar was shot by an Israeli settler guard employed by a private security company. The guard, positioned near a settlers' Mercedes bus, struck Omar with three bullets from a distance of about 150 meters (492 feet) away.
“Omar grew up in a hyper militarized environment where Israeli soldiers and settlers enact violence against Palestinians side by side,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Palestinian children cannot rest even in death as Israeli authorities continue confiscating children’s bodies and withholding them from their families indefinitely.”
Israeli forces entered the area and encircled Omar, who was lying on the ground. Israeli ambulances arrived after 30 minutes, covered Omar in medical foil, and transported him in an ambulance to an undisclosed location. Around 1 a.m., his death was announced as a result of his injuries, and Israeli authorities continue to withhold his body.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 90 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
171 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023 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.
Israeli forces have withheld the bodies of at least 45 Palestinian children since June 2016, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Six of the children’s bodies have since been released to their families, while 39 Palestinian children’s bodies remain withheld by Israeli authorities.
Israeli authorities’ practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which include absolute prohibitions on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as well as stipulate that parties of an armed conflict must bury the deceased in an honorable way. For families, the practice amounts to collective punishment in violation of international humanitarian law.
In September 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court approved the practice of confiscating human remains after several legal challenges to the policy. On November 27, 2019, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett ordered all bodies of Palestinians alleged to have attacked Israeli citizens or soldiers to be withheld and not returned to their families. Israel is the only country in the world with such a policy of confiscating human remains, according to Adalah.
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 demonstrate that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.
