West Bank violence surges, Palestinian child deaths rise

Israeli forces and settlers have intensified West Bank attacks and restrictions, with raids and blockades affecting multiple towns and humanitarian conditions, including sieges on homes and water shortages. A new B’Tselem report finds Palestinian children and teenagers accounted for nearly a quarter of West Bank fatalities from Oct. 7, 2023 to June 28, 2026, totaling 54 child deaths in 2025 alone, and notes no indictments against soldiers or settlers, highlighting a claimed impunity. The period since October 7, 2023 shows an extraordinary rise in child casualties, with around seven children killed per month on average, compared with roughly one per month between 2005 and 2021. Rights groups and witnesses point to a broader policy of killings with limited accountability, echoed by statements from Israeli officials cited in the report about high casualty figures. Individual cases underscore the human toll: nine-year-old Mohammed al-Hallaq was killed in October 2023, described by his mother as a profound loss, and in June 2026 seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal was shot in Hebron while in his mother’s arms. The rising, page-driven violence and the alleged lack of accountability have drawn renewed international scrutiny, including UN tallies of child fatalities in 2026 West Bank incidents.