DaysofPal- Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 16 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2025, despite the victims posing no real threat to soldiers, according to an international human rights organization.
Ayed Abu Eqtaish, director of the accountability program at Defense for Children International, warned that the lack of consequences for Israeli soldiers has effectively granted them impunity to continue such actions.
“There is a growing ease with which Israeli soldiers open fire on Palestinian children, leading to an increase in the number of those killed or injured,” Abu Eqtaish said.
One of the most recent cases is that of 13-year-old Ayman Al-Haimouni, who was fatally shot on Feb. 21 in Hebron, in the southern West Bank. Abu Eqtaish stressed that the child posed no threat at the time he was killed.
The rights group also highlighted a troubling trend of Israeli soldiers obstructing ambulances carrying the wounded and even assaulting the families of the injured, describing these actions as systematic military practices.
On Feb. 10, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli army had expanded its rules of engagement in the occupied West Bank, contributing to a surge in Palestinian civilian casualties.
Citing Israeli military unit commanders, the report stated that the army’s Central Command had decided to apply the same engagement rules used in Gaza to the West Bank—effectively allowing soldiers to kill any unarmed Palestinian, regardless of suspicion.
According to Haaretz, Central Command Commander Avi Blot authorized soldiers to shoot to kill without attempting arrests.
Soldiers involved in ongoing military operations in the West Bank reportedly admitted that the recent spike in deaths among unarmed Palestinians was unusual and directly linked to these new orders.
Under the revised directives, Israeli forces can fire upon Palestinians suspected of planting explosives or even merely “tampering with the land.”
Escalating Violence
The Israeli occupation forces have been conducting deadly raids in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21, killing at least 64 people and displacing thousands.
Palestinian authorities have warned that the continued military escalation aligns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broader strategy to annex the West Bank and declare sovereignty over it, effectively ending the possibility of a two-state solution.
Since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 927 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in the West Bank due to Israeli military operations and attacks by illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories was “unlawful” and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. However, Israel has dismissed the ruling and continues to expand its military operations and settlements in the region.
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