Israeli forces kill three Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank

Ramallah, November 17, 2025—Israeli forces killed three Palestinian boys in the occupied West Bank last week.

14-year-old Jadallah Jihad Jouma Jadallah, 15-year-old Bilal Bahaa Ali Baaran and 15-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud Mohammad Abu Ayyash were all targeted and killed by Israeli forces in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on November 13 and 16, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine. Israeli authorities confiscated the bodies of the children and have not released them to their families.

“Decades of systemic impunity has created a situation where Israeli forces shoot to kill without limit,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “As Palestinian children are increasingly targets in the West Bank, Israeli forces’ rules of engagement seemingly allow direct targeting of Palestinian children where no threat exists to justify the use of intentional lethal force.”

Jadallah Jihad Jouma Jadallah, 14, was shot and killed by Israeli forces on November 16 around 4 p.m. in Al-Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Jadallah allegedly participated in confrontations alongside other young Palestinians who were throwing stones toward heavily armored Israeli soldiers during an Israeli military incursion into the camp when he was shot from a distance of about 20 to 30 meters (66 to 98 feet) away.

The Israeli forces approached the spot where Jadallah had fallen and remained near him for around 35 to 40 minutes, during which a Palestinian ambulance tried to reach the child, but the soldiers stopped it from getting through. The soldiers took Jadallah and placed him in a military vehicle, before leaving the area.

The family of Jadallah was informed by the Palestinian Liaison Office on the same day around 8 p.m. that their child had been killed and that his body was being withheld by the Israeli forces.

Bilal Bahaa Ali Baaran, 15, and Mohammad Mahmoud Mohammad Abu Ayyash, 15, were shot and killed by Israeli forces around 3:30 p.m. on November 13 near the fence of the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur, built on land belonging to the Palestinians of Beit Ummar, northwest of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. 

Mohammad and Bilal were working in agriculture in the area near the settlement fence, according to their families, during which both were targeted by Israeli forces from a distance of about 200 meters (565 feet) away. According to Israeli media, Mohammad and Bilal were allegedly trying to infiltrate the settlement while carrying Molotov cocktails.

Bilal’s father mentioned that he had spoken to Bilal just half an hour prior to the shooting, and Bilal informed him that he had finished his work and was on his way home. He also mentioned that his son had been out of school for over a year, working in agriculture to help support the family.

Israeli forces conducted a raid on Bilal’s family house on November 14 at 3 a.m. An Israeli soldier recorded Bilal’s father, insulting the father and his killed son, asserting that he had not raised Bilal properly. 

Mohammad worked part-time in agriculture, was a tenth-grade student, and the eldest son, doing his best to support his mother and siblings, whose father passed away five years ago, according to Mohammad’s uncle. 

He also mentioned that an intelligence officer contacted him to relay the news of his nephew’s death, stating, “Your nephew thought he was being clever, but he turned out to be a fool. I considered arresting him some time ago, but since he is an orphan, I let him go. However, he came to me.” 

As Israeli authorities have confiscated the bodies of the boys, DCIP is not able to verify the location or number of bullet wounds that three of them sustained.

Israeli forces and settlers have killed 50 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP. 

Israeli forces have withheld the bodies of at least 59 Palestinian children since June 2016, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Six of the children’s bodies have since been released to their families, while 53 Palestinian children’s bodies remain withheld by Israeli authorities. Israel’s practice of withholding Palestinian bodies is a form of collective punishment, a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, and deprives Palestinian families of the ability to lay their children to rest.

In September 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court approved the practice of confiscating human remains after several legal challenges to the policy. On November 27, 2019, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett ordered all bodies of Palestinians alleged to have attacked Israeli citizens or soldiers to be withheld and not returned to their families. Israel is the only country in the world with such a policy of confiscating human remains, according to Adalah.