Ramallah, March 13, 2024—Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian boys in the last 24 hours in the occupied West Bank.
16-year-old Abdallah Mamoun Hassan Assaf, 17-year-old Mustafa Taleb Ahmad Ahmad, and 12-year-old Rami Ali Mohammad Hamdan were all shot and killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank in the last 24 hours, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Israeli authorities confiscated Mustafa and Rami’s bodies and have not released them to their families.
“As Israeli forces bomb and starve Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, they continue to target children in the occupied West Bank with lethal force” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Decades of systemic impunity has created a situation where Israeli forces shoot to kill without limit.”
Mustafa Taleb Ahmad Ahmad, 17, was shot and killed this morning around 8:10 a.m. at the Israeli military Tunnel Checkpoint west of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Mustafa allegedly attempted to stab two Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint after approaching on an electric bicycle. Israeli forces fatally shot him then an Israeli ambulance transported Mustafa to an unknown location. Israeli forces contacted Mustafa’s father to inform him they killed his son. Israeli authorities are withholding Mustafa’s body.
Two Palestinian boys were shot and killed by Israeli forces last night.
Abdallah Mamoun Hassan Assaf, 16, was shot in the chest by Israeli forces around 10:10 p.m. on March 12 in the Palestinian village of Al-Jib, near Jerusalem in the central occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces opened fire on six Palestinians, including Abdallah, exiting a car in the Al-Sheeh neighborhood of Al-Jib, near the Israeli separation barrier. One Palestinian man was killed alongside Abdallah and three others were injured, while Israeli forces detained the sixth man. Palestinian ambulance crews arrived at the scene and were detained by Israeli forces for about an hour. Israeli forces contacted the Palestinian liaison to come take everyone from the Al-Jib military checkpoint. Around 11:30 p.m., they were transported to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where Abdallah was pronounced dead.
12-year-old Rami Ali Mohammad Hamdan was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the chest around 8 p.m. last night near Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Rami was lighting fireworks with other children close to his home, which is near the Israeli separation barrier. An Israeli sniper stationed in the military tower fired a bullet toward Rami that struck him in the chest. Palestinian residents brought Rami to Al-Zaghair Health center. Then, Rami was transferred to Hadassah Al-Issawiya Hospital in Jerusalem, where he was pronounced dead.
Israeli authorities are withholding Rami’s body. His family was contacted by Israeli authorities which had them sign an agreement to have no more than five people present when receiving his body. Israeli authorities have not set a date for releasing Rami’s body.
111 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to documentation collected by DCIP, when the Israeli military began a full-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip dubbed Operation Iron Swords.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 30 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
In 2023, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 121 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 103 Palestinian children with live ammunition, 13 Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopter, and one child was killed in an Israeli warplane airstrike.
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.
Israeli forces have withheld the bodies of at least 34 Palestinian children since June 2016, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Four of the children’s bodies have since been released to their families, while 30 Palestinian children’s bodies remain withheld by Israeli authorities.
Israeli authorities’ practice of confiscating and withholding Palestinian bodies is a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which include absolute prohibitions on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as well as stipulate that parties of an armed conflict must bury the deceased in an honorable way. For families, the practice amounts to collective punishment in violation of international humanitarian law.
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.
