Killing of Palestinian children, teens by Israeli forces surges in West Bank

Alia Al-Hallaq’s son Mohammed was nine years old when he was killed by an Israeli army bullet last October. Yet, the Palestinian homemaker still describes herself as a mother of five, refusing to speak of her family as having lost a child.

“I still haven’t accepted the idea of the loss,” she told AFP. “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.”

Hallaq said Mohammed was killed after fleeing from Israeli soldiers patrolling their village of Al-Rihiya in the southern occupied West Bank.

Her uncle, who was also named Mohammed Hallaq, told AFP that the boy was struck by a stray bullet during a confrontation between an army patrol and a group of older youths. Emergency services said the bullet passed through the child’s abdomen.

“Mohammed’s killing was the end,” his mother said.

The Israeli military, asked by AFP about the incident, said soldiers had opened fire during an altercation while deployed in Al-Rihaya. It said troops “responded with fire” at suspects involved in rock-throwing and that hits had been identified.

Palestinian children increasingly caught in West Bank violence

The deaths of Palestinian children and teenagers at the hands of Israeli forces have increased since the outbreak of the Gaza war, according to rights groups.

Israeli rights organisation B’Tselem recorded 235 Palestinian children and teenagers killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank between October 7, 2023, and June 2026, including five killed by Israeli settlers. The Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission put the figure at 250 over the same period.

B’Tselem said that between 2005 and 2021, Israeli forces killed roughly one Palestinian child or teenager every month on average. Since October 2023, its figures indicate the rate has risen to around seven deaths a month.

AFP spoke to 12 Palestinian women who said they had lost children since October 7, 2023. While the circumstances varied, they described lives being shattered by the deaths and expressed frustration over what they saw as a lack of accountability.

Rock-throwing confrontations claim young lives

B’Tselem said 54 Palestinian children and teenagers were killed in 2025. The youngest was two years old, while most were between 14 and 17.

Teenagers are frequently killed during confrontations in which Israeli forces respond to Palestinian youths throwing stones. Israeli authorities routinely describe such youths as terrorists.

Israeli military commander for the West Bank, Maj Gen Avi Bluth, said early in 2026 that the army had killed 42 Palestinians for throwing stones in 2025, without specifying how many were minors.

In other cases, particularly involving younger children, witnesses have alleged that Israeli troops opened fire indiscriminately and struck children who were nearby.

Among those killed was seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal, who was shot in the face by Israeli troops in Hebron in June 2026.

Mother of infant killed in shooting seeks justice

Sam’s mother, Dania Abu Haikal, 28, told AFP that she was also wounded when soldiers fired at the car in which she was travelling with her infant son on her lap. She said a bullet entered through her cheek and exited near her ear.

When she spoke to AFP at her home in Bethlehem, she showed a large scar on her face and held a stuffed fox that had belonged to Sam.

“Why would anyone shoot an infant? What did a little baby, a seven-month-old infant, do to harm the soldiers?” said Abu Haikal, a university lecturer.

The Israeli military said after a preliminary investigation that one of its soldiers had fired at “uninvolved civilians” after their vehicle accelerated toward troops.

Abu Haikal disputes the account, saying her husband had stopped the vehicle before soldiers opened fire.

She said the loss of her only child had left her struggling with both emotional and physical pain.

“I cry every day; now my life is empty without him,” she said.

Like several other families interviewed by AFP, Abu Haikal hired a lawyer to press for a full investigation.

“Palestinians don’t get justice for being killed by Israelis,” she said. “But we hope that we get justice.”