News - Middle East: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for an end to the Israeli military’s systematic impunity in killing Palestinian children and the regime’s use of unlawful lethal force against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

The New York-based international non-governmental organization made the call in a report published on Monday and said the Israeli occupation forces were killing Palestinian children “with virtually no recourse for accountability.”
The HRW described last year as the “deadliest” year for Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 15 years, and said 2023 is on track to meet or exceed 2022 levels as Israeli forces had killed at least 34 Palestinian children in the West Bank as of August 22.
“Israeli forces are gunning down Palestinian children living under occupation with increasing frequency,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.

“Unless Israel’s allies, particularly the United States, pressure Israel to change course, more Palestinian children will be killed.”

Having documented four Israeli killings of Palestinian children in recent years, the report said, “In all cases, Israeli forces shot the children’s upper bodies, without, according to witnesses, issuing warnings or using common, less-lethal measures such as tear gas, concussion grenades, or rubber-coated bullets.”
Stressing that the Israeli military has used excessive force against Palestinians for decades, Human Rights Watch said the regime has routinely failed to hold its forces accountable when they kill Palestinians, including children, in circumstances in which the use of lethal force was not justified under international norms.
The international NGO cited Israeli rights group Yesh Din as saying that the occupation forces killed at least 614 Palestinians whom the United Nations classified as civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank from 2017 to 2021, but only three soldiers were convicted for killing Palestinians and all received short sentences of military community service.
“Palestinian children live a reality of apartheid and structural violence, where they could be gunned down at any time without any serious prospect of accountability,” Van Esveld said. “Israel’s allies should confront this ugly reality and create real pressure for accountability.”