Israeli forces, settlers killed 235 children in West Bank since 7 Oct 2023, report says

Israeli forces have killed 235 children and teenagers, including a seventh-month-old infant, in West Bank since 7 October 2023, AFP reported.

The killing of Palestinian children and teenagers by Israel in the West Bank has become increasingly common since the start of the war in Gaza, the report said.

Five of the 235 children have been killed by Israeli settlers, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli rights group.

The Palestinian Authority's Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian government institution, reported 250 such deaths over the same time period.

In the 17 years between 2005 and 2021, an average of roughly one Palestinian child or teenager was killed by Israeli forces every month, according to B'Tselem, a frequent but much lower rate.

For the period since the October 7 attack, the average using B'Tselem figures is around seven killed per month, the report said.

Last year, of the 54 Palestinian children or teenagers killed according to B'Tselem, the youngest was just two years old, while the majority were aged between 14 and 17.

In several other cases, the army has fired indiscriminately at Palestinians and killed children who were present.

One such casualty was seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal, shot in the face by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron in June 2026.

His mother, Dania Abu Haikal, 28, told AFP she was also wounded when the troops fired at their car while Sam was on her lap, with a bullet entering through her cheek and exiting through her ear.

She bore a large scar on her face when she met with AFP at her home in Bethlehem, holding a stuffed fox that had belonged to her son.

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