Ramallah, June 26, 2025—Israeli forces shot and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy in the northern occupied West Bank yesterday.
Rayan Tamer Anwar Houshyeh, 13, was shot three times around 2:30 p.m. on June 25 by an Israeli sniper positioned on the roof of a Palestinian home during a military incursion into Al-Yamoun, northwest of Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Rayan looked over a stone wall in an alley near the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque to observe nearby Israeli forces when the sniper opened fire from 50 to 60 meters (164 to 197 feet) away, striking him in the neck, abdomen, and thigh. Rayan took two steps backwards and collapsed, and the sniper continued firing toward young men who tried to reach him and provide aid. A nearby ambulance stopped and brought Rayan to Al-Hadaf Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Israeli forces routinely carry out military incursions into Palestinian communities with absolutely no consequence,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Israeli soldiers entered Rayan’s hometown, killed him without a second thought, and no one will be held responsible. This is Palestinian childhood today.”
Israeli forces entered Al-Yamoun around 1 p.m. with several heavily armored military vehicles and pursued several young Palestinian men with gunfire. Infantry forces set up several ambushes throughout the town, and raided a Palestinian home to use as a base for snipers, confining the family to one room in the house.
Israeli forces have killed 30 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
Israel’s routine use of lethal force against Palestinian children reflects a wider policy of violence and impunity that violates international law. Under international human rights law, lethal force may only be used when strictly unavoidable to protect life, yet, Israeli forces continue to target children with deliberate, unlawful killings.
