245 Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in West Bank since October 2023, UN says

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Friday that Israeli forces had killed 245 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, including 41 in incidents involving reported stone-throwing. “The killing of a child is deplorable. The killing of a child for simply carrying or throwing stones is abhorrent,” Turk said. He stressed that international law required any use of force to be “necessary and proportional to the threat posed,” adding that violations must be subject to accountability.

“There must be accountability for violations,” he said. The occupied West Bank has witnessed intensified Israeli military raids and attacks by Israeli settlers since October 2023, with Palestinians, including children, killed and injured in separate incidents. On Nov. 8, Israeli forces shot and wounded a Palestinian child during a raid in the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya. In May, UNICEF said at least 70 Palestinian children had been killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of 2025, with 93% of them killed by Israeli forces.