UNICEF Says Israeli Forces Killed 70 Palestinian Children In West Bank Since January 2025

UNICEF said on Tuesday that one Palestinian child has been killed every week in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since January 2025, bringing the total to 70 children killed and about 850 injured.

“Toggle Play Israel killing at least one child a week in occupied West Bank, UN says Israeli military and settlers have killed at least one Palestinian child a week on average in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2025, the UN says”

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UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva that “93 per cent of the fatalities were attributed to Israeli forces,” with most cases involving live ammunition.

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Elder said the harm was not confined to direct violence, describing “the steady dismantling of the conditions children need to survive and grow” as homes, education and water systems are hit.

UNICEF also warned that children are “paying an intolerable price” amid escalating militarised operations and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The UN agency renewed calls for protection of children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as it linked child casualties and injuries with broader disruption across the territory.

At a Geneva press briefing, Elder condemned the escalating toll and said, “We're seeing attacks become increasingly coordinated,” while UNICEF described documented incidents including children shot, stabbed, children beaten, and children pepper-sprayed.

UNICEF said 70 children had been killed since January 2025 and a further 850 injured, “mostly by live ammunition,” and it tied the pattern to “historic levels of settler attacks.”

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Elder also described meeting an eight-year-old who had been beaten with a piece of wood in a settler attack and hospitalized for head injuries, and he said the boy’s mother “had both her arms broken” while trying to protect her four-month-old baby.

UNICEF warned that education is under sustained assault, stressing that “Schools, which should be places of safety and stability, are increasingly becoming places of panic.”

In the same briefing, Elder reported a “sharp rise” in the arrest and detention of Palestinian children, saying 347 were held in Israeli military detention for alleged security-related offences, the highest number in eight years.

UNICEF said 347 Palestinian children from the West Bank were being held in Israeli military detention, and it reported that more than half were under administrative detention.

“1 Palestinian child killed every week in West Bank since January 2025: UNICEF Spokesperson says 93% of Palestinian children were killed by Israeli forces Beyza Binnur Donmez 12 May 2026•Update: 12 May 2026 GENEVA At least 70 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of 2025, averaging roughly one child per week, UNICEF said Tuesday”

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Elder said, “Alarmingly, more than half of these children, 180, are held under administrative detention,” and he warned that the detention lacked procedural safeguards including regular access to legal counsel and the right to challenge detention.

UNICEF also reported displacement pressures, saying that in the first four months of 2026 more than 2,500 Palestinians, including 1,100 children, had been displaced, surpassing the total displacement recorded in all of 2025.

The agency linked the crisis to restrictions on movement and damage to civilian infrastructure, including that “Over the past 30 months, more than 900 additional barriers and restrictions have been imposed across the West Bank.”

UNICEF urged Israeli authorities to take “immediate and decisive measures” to prevent further killing and maiming of Palestinian children and to protect their homes, schools and access to water in line with international law.