Number of children killed by Israel in West Bank more than doubles since October

The number of Palestinian children killed by Israel has more than doubled since October 2023 as Israel escalates its operations in the occupied West Bank.

According to a new report from Save the Children, 158 children have been killed since last October, as raids by Israeli forces and attacks by settlers increase.

Between 7 October and 14 August, 115 children were shot dead in the territory, nearly triple the amount in the preceding 10 months, which stood at 39 killed. Additionally, at least 1,400 children have been wounded in the same time period.

The stark rise in killings of Palestinian children comes amid a sharp uptick in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, which has seen at least 705 Palestinians killed and around 5,700 injured.

Save the Children said that the increased violence in the West Bank was disrupting aid delivery in the territory and hindering the movement of humanitarian staff.

On 11 September, Save the Children had to cancel operations in Tulkarm refugee camp due to large scale Israeli military incursions that were launched on 28 August across much of the northern West Bank.

The increased military activity by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has also involved the use of airstrikes, which have killed 136 Palestinians since October 2023, as opposed to six through the first nine months of 2023.

Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children's Middle East Director, said that the killing of Palestinian children was part of a trend the "erodes the safety, security, and fundamental rights of Palestinian children."

"Every day, children are killed, injured, or left severely distressed, and their families are left grieving unimaginable losses."

"We must not allow violence against children to become normalized or accepted as inevitable. We need urgent and decisive action to protect children across the West Bank and to stop this becoming their increasing reality," he added.

Israel's occupation of the West Bank, which has been ongoing since 1967, was deemed illegal and constituting a policy of apartheid in a July ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

As well as killings, the Israeli government has approved the construction of large-scale settlements across the West Bank, with 6,000 acres of land being seized by the Israeli state in the first six months of 2024.