At least 35 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces in 2023 so far, according to Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), a Palestinian child rights organization.
This includes four children in Jenin who were killed by Israel in a military offensive on the city this week.
“Israeli forces have shot and killed at least 26 Palestinian children and killed two children with targeted drone strikes in the occupied West Bank. Six children in Gaza were killed in the May 2023 Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, and a 10-year-old Palestinian child in Gaza succumbed to head wounds he sustained during the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip in August 2022,” said DCIP.
It went on to say: “Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present. However, investigations and evidence collected by DCIP regularly suggest that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.”
53 children were killed in 2022 in Palestine, according to documentation collected by DCIP, including 36 children shot and killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank. DCIP documented the killing of 17 children between August 5–7 after Israeli forces launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
