RAMALLAH, March 1, 2025 (WAFA) – The British newspaper The Guardian reported on Saturday that Israel's killing of children in the West Bank has become a common occurrence since the Israeli army escalated its aggression in the occupied territories after October 7, 2023. The report noted that the situation has worsened since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on January 19, 2025.
The article was accompanied by surveillance footage showing the moment 12-year-old Ayman Nassar Al-Haimouni was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier in Hebron. Al-Haimouni was killed on February 21 while visiting relatives in the Jabal Johar area, south of Hebron. He was shot in the chest and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to The Guardian, Israeli forces have killed two children per week in the West Bank since the beginning of 2025, a rate slightly higher than the 2024 average, when 93 Palestinian children were killed.
Human rights activists fear the death toll will continue to rise as the Israeli military applies tactics used in Gaza to the West Bank. These include the displacement of tens of thousands of residents, destruction of neighborhoods, and relaxed rules of engagement that determine when soldiers can open fire.
The Israeli army did not respond to inquiries about Al-Haimouni’s killing, the newspaper reported. In some past cases, military investigations were announced under media pressure, but they rarely led to accountability. In 2019, a soldier received only one month of community service for killing a 14-year-old boy in Gaza. Such consequences, however, remain extremely rare.
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din stated that the likelihood of an Israeli soldier being prosecuted for killing a Palestinian is just 0.4%—meaning only one case out of 219 results in legal action.
Meanwhile, the international child rights organization Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) said on Saturday that the lack of accountability for Israeli soldiers has effectively given them a green light to commit further violations in the West Bank.
Ayyad Abu Eqtaish, DCIP’s accountability program director, stated that Israeli forces have killed 16 Palestinian children in the West Bank since the start of the year, despite none posing a real threat.
Abu Eqtaish also pointed to an increasing trend of Israeli soldiers delaying ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians and assaulting their families, calling it a disturbing pattern in the army’s conduct.
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