Israeli forces 'committed war crime' after shooting Palestinian boys as they fled for their lives

Israel may have committed a war crime in the killing of two Palestinian children last year in the West Bank, according to a BBC investigation and a UN human rights official.

The two children, eight-year-old Adam al-Ghul and 15-year-old Basel Abu el-Wafa, were shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied city of Jenin in November.

Shocking footage of the incident shared by the BBCshowed how the children fled from a scene where a heavily armoured Israeli convoy was stationed, only to be shot from behind the back by Israeli forces.

After reviewing materials provided by the BBC, UN special rapporteur on human rights, Ben Saul, said it was highly likely that Israeli forces had committed a war crime in killing the two boys.

The rapporteur pointed out that there "may" have been legal grounds for the Israeli forces to deploy lethal force on Basel if he was in fact holding an explosive but there was no legal justification for the killing of eight-year-old Adam.

"This appears to be a violation of the International Humanitarian Law prohibitions on deliberately, indiscriminately or disproportionately attacking civilians, a war crime, and a violation of the human right to life," Saul told the BBC.

In August 2023, Human Rights Watch noted an increase in the killing of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in the West Bank. The group documented the targeting and killing of several children who were "shot in the back while running from Israeli soldiers".

"Israeli forces are gunning down Palestinian children living under occupation with increasing frequency," said Bill Van Esveld, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch.

"Unless Israel’s allies, particularly the United States, pressure Israel to change course, more Palestinian children will be killed."

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in January 2023 that since December 2021, Israeli forces were allowed to shoot at Palestinians who were "fleeing if they had previously thrown stones or Molotov cocktails".

Rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force against Palestinians in policing situations for decades.

The authorities have routinely failed to hold their forces accountable when security forces kill Palestinians, including children, in circumstances in which the use of lethal force was not justified under international norms.

From 2017 to 2021, fewer than one percent of complaints of violations by Israeli military forces against Palestinians, including killings and other abuses, resulted in indictments, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.