West Bank Palestinian child deaths rise, groups say

Palestinian children and teenagers are being killed at a higher rate in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to figures reported by Israeli and Palestinian organisations.

B'Tselem, an Israeli rights group, reported 235 Palestinian children and teenagers killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank from October 7, 2023, through June 2026. It said five of those deaths were caused by Israeli settlers.

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

B'Tselem figures show that from 2005 to 2021, roughly one Palestinian child or teenager was killed by Israeli forces each month on average. Since the Hamas attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, the average using B'Tselem's figures is around seven per month.

AFP spoke to 12 women who lost children since October 7, 2023. They described family life upended and said they had seen little accountability.

Alia al-Hallaq said her nine-year-old son Mohammed was killed last October after running away from soldiers patrolling Al-Rihiya, in the southern West Bank. Her uncle, also named Mohammed Hallaq, told AFP the boy was killed by a stray bullet during a confrontation between an army patrol and older youths.

Emergency services said the bullet passed through the boy's abdomen. The Israeli military said at the time that soldiers opened fire during an altercation in Al-Rihiya and that they fired at suspects throwing rocks.

In another case, seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal was shot in the face by Israeli troops in Hebron in June 2026. His mother, Dania Abu Haikal, told AFP she was also wounded while Sam was on her lap in the family car.

After a preliminary investigation, the Israeli army said one soldier opened fire on “uninvolved civilians” after their vehicle accelerated toward troops. Dania Abu Haikal disputed that account and said her husband had stopped the car before soldiers began shooting.