Unshielded Childhood: 54 Palestinian children and teenagers killed by Israel in the West Bank in 2025. Infancia inerme. 54 niños-adolescentes asesinados en 2025 en Cisjordania. ENG ESP

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Unshielded Childhood: Palestinian children and teenagers killed by Israel in the West Bank in 2025

29 June 2026

Summary

Since October 2023, Israel has been waging an extensive assault on all aspects of Palestinian existence in the West Bank. This includes a broad, systematic violation of human rights, first among them the most basic right – to life. Lethal, unbridled violence employed by the Israeli regime’s armed forces, including the military and settler militias, has led to an unprecedent increase in the killing of Palestinians, and particularly the killing of children and teenagers by Israeli forces. Over the course of two years and eight months, from 7 October 2023 to 7 June 2026, Israeli forces killed 235 Palestinian children and teenagers in the West Bank. Five others were killed by settlers.

In 2025 alone, the year that is the focus of this investigation, Israeli forces killed 54 Palestinian children and teenagers in the West Bank.

Denying and delaying medical treatment

In nearly a quarter of the cases, involving 13 children and teenagers, the military delayed or completely prevented medical teams or local residents from reaching the wounded persons to provide first aid or take them to hospital. In at least four cases, access was blocked for several minutes, including one case in which soldiers raided the clinic to which the wounded person was taken and held up his transferal to hospital. In four cases, access was denied for a prolonged period of between 20 and 40 minutes. In another five cases, access was denied for an unknown period. In at least nine cases documented by B'Tselem, soldiers fired live shots in the air or at residents and medical personnel to keep them away from the wounded persons.

In cases where soldiers removed the wounded from the scene themselves, Palestinian residents and medical teams were completely denied access and it remains unknown whether the military provided any medical treatment before the victims were declared dead or made any other attempt to save their lives.

Withholding bodies

As of 6 June 2026, Israel was still holding 18 of the 54 bodies, preventing their families from burying them and saying goodbye. This forms part of Israel's long-standing policy of withholding bodies, which is inconsistent with international law. Denying families the right to bury their loved ones, observe mourning rituals, and visit their graves causes immense suffering, all the more unbearable when the deceased are children and teenagers.

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