According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), at least 143 Palestinian children and young people have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the past nine months.
According to UNICEF, this is a 250% increase compared to the previous nine months, when 41 Palestinian children were killed.
Over the past nine months, two Israeli children have been killed in conflict-related violence in the West Bank.
UNICEF also reported that 440 young Palestinians were injured by live ammunition.
“Children living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been exposed to horrific violence for years,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“The situation has deteriorated significantly, coinciding with the escalation of hostilities in Gaza. We regularly see allegations of Palestinian children being detained on their way home from school, or shot while walking in the street. The violence must stop now.”
The situation in the West Bank has deteriorated dramatically since the start of the war in Gaza, which broke out in response to the Hamas massacre in southern Israel on October 7.
Since then, more than 550 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or as a result of their own attacks in the West Bank, health officials said.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has also increased during this period.
