DCI: Majority of child victims targeted by Israel are from Jenin

Israeli forces have escalated their violations against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, this year, with the majority of child victims being from the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, Defence for Children International (DCI) has revealed.

According to a DCI report, the Israeli army forces have killed five children, wounded six others and demolished six homes within the policy of collective punishment pursued against Palestinians in Jenin.

Fifteen Palestinian children have been killed by occupation forces since the start of the year, the rights watchdog said, including five from Jenin. It named the victims as: Muhammad Akram Ali Abu Salah, 16, Sanad Muhammad Khalil Abu Attia, 16, Muhammad Hussein Muhammad Qassem, 16, Shawkat Kamal Shawkat Abed, 17, and Amjad Walid Hussein Fayed, 16.

DCI added that on 13 February an Israel sniper shot 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Salah, a resident of Al-Yamoun village in Jenin, in the eye, killing him.

“Israeli forces shot and killed Sanad Mohammad Khalil Abu Atiya on March 31 in Jenin as he approached a wounded man in an attempt to render aid,” it continued.

The report added that Muhammad Qassem, a resident of Jenin, was shot dead last April by a bullet to the stomach while Shawkat Abed was killed by a bullet to the stomach, fired by an Israeli soldier from a distance of about 25 metres.

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