The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recorded a 250% increase in the number of children killed in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
UNICEF said on its website that 143 children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, which represents an increase of about 250% compared to the previous nine months.
It explained that the first nine months of 2023 witnessed the killing of only 41 Palestinian children.
The UN agency indicated that more than 440 Palestinian children were injured by live ammunition during the period that followed October 2023, as Israeli military operations escalated in the West Bank and East Jerusalem coinciding with the outbreak of the aggression against Gaza.
It pointed out that on average, a child has been killed every two days since October 7, 2023 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“Children living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been exposed to horrific violence for years,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in the same statement. “The situation has deteriorated sharply with the escalation of hostilities inside Gaza.”
She added, “There are reports of Palestinian children being detained on their way home from school, or being shot while walking in the streets. This violence must stop now.”
She continued, “Half of the killings occurred in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nablus governorates, and these areas have witnessed an increase in large law enforcement operations with a military nature over the past two years.”
UNICEF called on all parties to end and prevent any additional grave violations against children, including killing and injury.
In conjunction with the barbaric war launched on Gaza Strip since October 7; Israeli settlers and forces escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, leaving 578 killed and about 5,400 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Since last October 7; the Israeli occupation forces waged a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has left tens of thousands killed and wounded, and led to a humanitarian and health catastrophe, amid an acute shortage of food, water, medicine, and electricity.
