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Israeli soldiers killed 54 Palestinian children and youths in the West Bank in 2025 according to the B’Tselem organization.
In a full report it released, Monday, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights states that from 7 October 2023 to 28 June 2026, Israel killed 1,086 Palestinians in the West Bank; 241 of them children and teenagers.
It states further that nearly one in every four Palestinians killed by Israel in the West Bank in this period was a minor with B’Tselem adding that this is the highest rate of Palestinian children and teenagers killed in the West Bank since Israel occupied the territory in 1967.
“The widespread, unprecedented killing of Palestinian children and teenagers in the West Bank is the result of a broader Israeli policy that enables the killing of Palestinians with virtually no accountability. When the military commander of the area boasts that Israel is killing Palestinians ‘like we haven’t killed since 1967,’ he is confirming exactly that: The system does not merely back those who pull the trigger – it effectively grants them a license to kill,” the B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak pointed out.
The report shows that the killing of Palestinian children and teenagers in the West Bank is not the result of isolated mistakes or violations of military orders. It is the outcome of an Israeli policy that expands the circumstances in which soldiers are permitted to shoot and kill, including children; backs those who use lethal force; labels Palestinians killed as “terrorists” even when they posed no threat to anyone; and almost never holds the perpetrators to account.
These findings are commensurate with recent remarks by the head of the Israeli military’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, who boasted that Israel is killing Palestinians in the West Bank “like we haven’t killed since 1967,” and presented the high number of fatalities as an achievement.
Despite the scale of the killings, B’Tselem is not aware of a single indictment filed in Israel since October 2023 in connection with the killing of Palestinians in the West Bank. This includes cases in which the victims were children and teenagers.
The report also found that in nearly one-quarter of the cases documented by B’Tselem in 2025, Israeli forces delayed or prevented medical teams or local residents from reaching wounded children and teenagers to provide life-saving assistance. In addition, Israel is still withholding the bodies of 18 of the 54 children and teenagers killed in 2025.
The killings in the West Bank cannot be separated from Israel’s killing of more than 21,000 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. By allowing Israel to kill on such a scale in Gaza without consequences, the international community has effectively given it a green light to pursue the same lethal policy in the West Bank. As long as Israel continues to enjoy near-total impunity in the world, the lives of Palestinians – including children – will remain unprotected and exposed.
marwan
