Killing of Palestinian children and teens by Israel surges in West Bank

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Published - August 30, 2026 09:04 am IST - Ramallah, Palestinian Territories

Palestinian children play at the seafront next to a tent camp in the Gaza City port. | Photo Credit: AP

Alia al-Hallaq's son Mohammed was nine when he was killed by an Israeli Army bullet last October, but the Palestinian homemaker still speaks of herself as a mother of five, not four.

"I still haven't accepted the idea of the loss. I often sit in the courtyard of the house and look at Mohammed's grave below, and I cry while making sure that my children don't see me," she told AFP .

She said Mohammed was killed after running away from soldiers patrolling their village of Al-Rihiya, in the south of the occupied West Bank.

Hallaq's uncle, also named Mohammed Hallaq, told AFP that his nephew was killed by a stray bullet during a confrontation between the army patrol and a group of older youths.

The bullet travelled through Mohammed's abdomen, according to emergency services.

The Israeli military, contacted by AFP for comment on Mohammed's death, said at the time that soldiers opened fire during an altercation while deployed in Al-Rihaya.

"Soldiers responded with fire toward the suspects in the rock-hurling. Hits were identified," it said, using language it generally employs to say troops shot and hit someone.

The killing of Palestinian children and teenagers by Israel has become increasingly common since the start of the war in Gaza.

B'Tselem, an Israeli rights group, reported 235 children and teenagers killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 7, 2023 — when Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip — through June 2026, including five killed by Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian Authority's Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian government institution, reported 250 such deaths over the same time period.

In the 17 years between 2005 and 2021, an average of roughly one Palestinian child or teenager was killed by Israeli forces every month, according to B'Tselem, a frequent but much lower rate.