The United Nations has condemned the escalating toll of Israeli aggression and settler attacks on children in the occupied West Bank, revealing that at least one Palestinian child has been killed on average every single week since the start of 2025, with Israeli forces responsible for 93 percent of the deaths.
UN children's agency spokesperson James Elder told reporters that children are paying an intolerable price for the escalating violence across the occupied West Bank, including eastern al-Quds. Since "Israel" launched a large‑scale military operation in the territory at the beginning of 2025, at least one Palestinian child has been killed every week, and an additional 850 children have been wounded.
"Most of those killed or wounded were done by live ammunition," Elder said. He stressed that the scaled‑up military operations have coincided with "historic levels of settler attacks." According to UN data, March 2026 recorded the highest number of Palestinians injured by Israeli settlers in at least two decades.
Children shot, stabbed, beaten, and pepper‑sprayed
Elder documented that affected children were shot, stabbed, beaten, and pepper‑sprayed. He emphasized that such violence is taking place against the backdrop of the systematic dismantling of the conditions children need to survive and grow.
"Homes are demolished, education is destroyed, water systems are attacked, access to healthcare is obstructed, movement is restricted," he said.
The number of barriers and restrictions imposed across the West Bank has also spiked dramatically. Palestinian children are routinely cut off from schools, hospitals, and other essential services. Elder added that all of this has caused mass displacement, with more than 2,500 Palestinians, including 1,100 children, displaced in just the first four months of this year.
"That surpasses the total displacement recorded in 2025," he pointed out.
Settler violence escalates
Palestinian and international human rights organizations have repeatedly accused Israeli authorities of allowing settler violence to continue without accountability.
The incidents come amid continued escalation in the occupied West Bank. According to Palestinian figures, Israeli military operations and settler attacks since October 2023 have killed at least 1,155 Palestinians, injured roughly 11,750 others, and resulted in the detention of around 22,000 people.
The latest attacks also follow "Israel’s" approval earlier this year of a plan to designate additional areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property", as more than 700,000 Israeli settlers reside in settlements widely regarded as illegal under international law.
Source:Websites
