Palestinians attend the funeral of Lujain Musleh, a 16-year-old girl fatally shot by Israeli occupation forces during a September 4, 2024 raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
'Calculated Brutality': Israelis Killing a Palestinian Child Every 2 Days in Occupied West Bank
"The international community must act urgently to enact an arms embargo and sanctions to protect Palestinian children's lives," said one campaigner.
Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 140 Palestinian children in the illegally occupied West Bank since last October—a rate of one child every two days—according to an analysis released Monday.
The report, published by Defense of Children International-Palestine (DCIP), details how Israeli occupation forces "routinely targeted Palestinian children with live ammunition and aerial attacks, prevented ambulances and paramedics from reaching wounded children, and confiscated children's bodies in violation of international law" in the 10 months after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants.
"Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children with calculated brutality and cruelty all throughout the occupied Palestinian territory," DCIP general director Khaled Quzmar said in a statement. "The international community must act urgently to enact an arms embargo and sanctions to protect Palestinian children's lives."
DCIP field researchers conducted interviews and collected evidence documenting 141 children killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops and settlers in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024. As Common Dreams recently reported, that's around a 250% increase from the nine months preceding the October 7 attack.
Among the report's key findings:
- 20 percent of the Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2000 have been killed after October 7, 2023—a rate of one child every two days;
- Israeli forces deliberately target and shoot unarmed children with live ammunition and trained snipers;
- Israeli forces and authorities systematically deny Palestinian children their right to medical care by preventing ambulances, paramedics, or bystanders from aiding them;
- Israeli authorities and forces systematically, deliberately, and specifically embolden Israeli settler violence towards Palestinian children;
- Israeli forces present during armed Israeli settler attacks fail to prevent the aggression, fail to help the Palestinian victims, and often collaborate with the settlers in inflicting lethal harm;
- The fatal shootings of child protesters in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the use of expanding bullets during the crackdowns constitute war crimes prosecutable at the International Criminal Court;
- Israeli authorities' practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international criminal law; and
- Israeli authorities work to ensure Israeli forces continue enjoying impunity and face no consequence for the extrajudicial killing of Palestinian children.
"When an Israeli soldier targets a Palestinian child, or an Israeli military official orders the targeting of a child, they are in violation of international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law," DCIP accountability program director Ayed Abu Eqtaish said Monday. "Not a single person has been held accountable for the killing of these children, emboldening Israeli forces to continue killing with impunity."
The new report comes amid the biggest and deadliest Israeli escalation in the West Bank in decades and as Israel's far-right government pushes forward with plans to build new settler colonies and expand existing ones by stealing more West Bank lands from Palestinians.
On Monday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk pointed to the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) recent opinion that the Israeli occupation is an illegal form of apartheid that must end immediately as he implored the world to reject Israel's "blatant disregard for international law."
Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the ICJ for its conduct in the war on Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry and U.N. agencies, Israel's 339-day assault on Gaza has left at least 145,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing while forcibly displacing, starving, and sickening millions more. More than 17,000 Palestinian children are believed to have been killed in Gaza.
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Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 140 Palestinian children in the illegally occupied West Bank since last October—a rate of one child every two days—according to an analysis released Monday.
The report, published by Defense of Children International-Palestine (DCIP), details how Israeli occupation forces "routinely targeted Palestinian children with live ammunition and aerial attacks, prevented ambulances and paramedics from reaching wounded children, and confiscated children's bodies in violation of international law" in the 10 months after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants.
"Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children with calculated brutality and cruelty all throughout the occupied Palestinian territory," DCIP general director Khaled Quzmar said in a statement. "The international community must act urgently to enact an arms embargo and sanctions to protect Palestinian children's lives."
DCIP field researchers conducted interviews and collected evidence documenting 141 children killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops and settlers in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024. As Common Dreams recently reported, that's around a 250% increase from the nine months preceding the October 7 attack.
Among the report's key findings:
- 20 percent of the Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2000 have been killed after October 7, 2023—a rate of one child every two days;
- Israeli forces deliberately target and shoot unarmed children with live ammunition and trained snipers;
- Israeli forces and authorities systematically deny Palestinian children their right to medical care by preventing ambulances, paramedics, or bystanders from aiding them;
- Israeli authorities and forces systematically, deliberately, and specifically embolden Israeli settler violence towards Palestinian children;
- Israeli forces present during armed Israeli settler attacks fail to prevent the aggression, fail to help the Palestinian victims, and often collaborate with the settlers in inflicting lethal harm;
- The fatal shootings of child protesters in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the use of expanding bullets during the crackdowns constitute war crimes prosecutable at the International Criminal Court;
- Israeli authorities' practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international criminal law; and
- Israeli authorities work to ensure Israeli forces continue enjoying impunity and face no consequence for the extrajudicial killing of Palestinian children.
"When an Israeli soldier targets a Palestinian child, or an Israeli military official orders the targeting of a child, they are in violation of international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law," DCIP accountability program director Ayed Abu Eqtaish said Monday. "Not a single person has been held accountable for the killing of these children, emboldening Israeli forces to continue killing with impunity."
The new report comes amid the biggest and deadliest Israeli escalation in the West Bank in decades and as Israel's far-right government pushes forward with plans to build new settler colonies and expand existing ones by stealing more West Bank lands from Palestinians.
On Monday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk pointed to the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) recent opinion that the Israeli occupation is an illegal form of apartheid that must end immediately as he implored the world to reject Israel's "blatant disregard for international law."
Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the ICJ for its conduct in the war on Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry and U.N. agencies, Israel's 339-day assault on Gaza has left at least 145,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing while forcibly displacing, starving, and sickening millions more. More than 17,000 Palestinian children are believed to have been killed in Gaza.
- IDF Veteran Decries Impunity for Troops Killing Record Number of West Bank Children ›
- 'Not Just Gaza': IDF Killings in West Bank Surge to Unprecedented Levels ›
- Israeli Occupation Forces Kill 2 Children in Refugee Camp Raid ›
- Israeli Killing of West Bank Children Hits 'Unprecedented Levels' in 2023 ›
- Israel's West Bank Assault Sparks 250% Surge in Killings of Palestinian Kids ›
- 'There Is No Safety for Us': West Bank Kids Under Growing Assault by Israeli Forces | Common Dreams ›
- Palestinians Mourn Elderly Nonviolent Activist Beaten to Death by IDF in West Bank | Common Dreams ›
- 14 Children From Same Family Among at Least 38 Killed by Israeli Strike on Gaza | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | How Many Dead Palestinian Children Are Enough? | Common Dreams ›
- Israeli Military Kills Palestinian Baby and Wounds Parents in West Bank | Common Dreams ›
Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 140 Palestinian children in the illegally occupied West Bank since last October—a rate of one child every two days—according to an analysis released Monday.
The report, published by Defense of Children International-Palestine (DCIP), details how Israeli occupation forces "routinely targeted Palestinian children with live ammunition and aerial attacks, prevented ambulances and paramedics from reaching wounded children, and confiscated children's bodies in violation of international law" in the 10 months after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants.
"Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children with calculated brutality and cruelty all throughout the occupied Palestinian territory," DCIP general director Khaled Quzmar said in a statement. "The international community must act urgently to enact an arms embargo and sanctions to protect Palestinian children's lives."
DCIP field researchers conducted interviews and collected evidence documenting 141 children killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops and settlers in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024. As Common Dreams recently reported, that's around a 250% increase from the nine months preceding the October 7 attack.
Among the report's key findings:
- 20 percent of the Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2000 have been killed after October 7, 2023—a rate of one child every two days;
- Israeli forces deliberately target and shoot unarmed children with live ammunition and trained snipers;
- Israeli forces and authorities systematically deny Palestinian children their right to medical care by preventing ambulances, paramedics, or bystanders from aiding them;
- Israeli authorities and forces systematically, deliberately, and specifically embolden Israeli settler violence towards Palestinian children;
- Israeli forces present during armed Israeli settler attacks fail to prevent the aggression, fail to help the Palestinian victims, and often collaborate with the settlers in inflicting lethal harm;
- The fatal shootings of child protesters in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the use of expanding bullets during the crackdowns constitute war crimes prosecutable at the International Criminal Court;
- Israeli authorities' practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international criminal law; and
- Israeli authorities work to ensure Israeli forces continue enjoying impunity and face no consequence for the extrajudicial killing of Palestinian children.
"When an Israeli soldier targets a Palestinian child, or an Israeli military official orders the targeting of a child, they are in violation of international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law," DCIP accountability program director Ayed Abu Eqtaish said Monday. "Not a single person has been held accountable for the killing of these children, emboldening Israeli forces to continue killing with impunity."
The new report comes amid the biggest and deadliest Israeli escalation in the West Bank in decades and as Israel's far-right government pushes forward with plans to build new settler colonies and expand existing ones by stealing more West Bank lands from Palestinians.
On Monday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk pointed to the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) recent opinion that the Israeli occupation is an illegal form of apartheid that must end immediately as he implored the world to reject Israel's "blatant disregard for international law."
Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the ICJ for its conduct in the war on Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry and U.N. agencies, Israel's 339-day assault on Gaza has left at least 145,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing while forcibly displacing, starving, and sickening millions more. More than 17,000 Palestinian children are believed to have been killed in Gaza.
- IDF Veteran Decries Impunity for Troops Killing Record Number of West Bank Children ›
- 'Not Just Gaza': IDF Killings in West Bank Surge to Unprecedented Levels ›
- Israeli Occupation Forces Kill 2 Children in Refugee Camp Raid ›
- Israeli Killing of West Bank Children Hits 'Unprecedented Levels' in 2023 ›
- Israel's West Bank Assault Sparks 250% Surge in Killings of Palestinian Kids ›
- 'There Is No Safety for Us': West Bank Kids Under Growing Assault by Israeli Forces | Common Dreams ›
- Palestinians Mourn Elderly Nonviolent Activist Beaten to Death by IDF in West Bank | Common Dreams ›
- 14 Children From Same Family Among at Least 38 Killed by Israeli Strike on Gaza | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | How Many Dead Palestinian Children Are Enough? | Common Dreams ›
- Israeli Military Kills Palestinian Baby and Wounds Parents in West Bank | Common Dreams ›