Israeli fire in the West Bank killed their kids. Palestinian families want to know why

Lives lost and unanswered questions

One child was shot to death while sitting on her mother’s lap. Another, hit by an airstrike as he stepped inside his home. Two others, killed while playing outside with friends.

Israeli gunfire has killed at least eighteen children under the age of 15 in the occupied West Bank this year, according to the United Nations. That follows 29 children killed in 2023 and 23 in 2024 — a surge accompanying the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

Some were killed during Israeli military raids in dense neighborhoods, others by sniper fire in peaceful areas. The killings have risen as the Israeli military has stepped up operations in the occupied West Bank since the war’s onset in what it calls a crackdown on militants.

The Associated Press spoke with several families whose children were killed this year. With Israel’s history of rarely punishing its soldiers for deadly violence, some families doubt there will ever be any accountability.

The military told AP that its rules of engagement “strictly prohibit intentional fire” at civilians, calling claims it targets minors “false” and “baseless.” It said it had launched investigations into some cases.

But it gave no word that any soldiers have been disciplined, and the families say they’ve received little information about how and why their children were killed.

Here are some of their stories, as they’ve told them to AP.

Ayman, shot while visiting relatives

Rimas, 13

It was Feb. 21 — day 32 of Israel’s military operation in the Jenin refugee camp — and Rimas Amouri wanted to play outside, despite her mother’s protestations.

Within seconds of stepping outside, gunshots sounded and there was yelling, her mother, Rudeina, says. Rimas had been shot in the back.

“I was screaming, ‘Please calm down, calm down.’ Then they started shooting at me,” Rudeina said.

Ten soldiers surrounded the house, she says, shooting from about 25 meters (yards) away every time she tried to run to her daughter. After 30 minutes, it was too late.

“I came closer and lifted her up. Her face had turned yellow,” Rudeina said. “I knew she was gone.”

Rimas’ father, Omar, says they “needed a special permit from the Israelis” to enter the graveyard and bury her.

Military police are investigating Rimas’ case, the military said, but it could not provide further details.

Ahmad, 14

The Jazar family celebrated Ramadan this year with one person missing.

Ahmad, who wanted to become an interior designer, was shot by Israeli forces in his hometown, Sebastia, on Jan. 19.

Neither of his parents was present when he was shot. Neither knows why he was killed.

“I don’t let my young ones run in the street alone anymore,” his mother, Wafa, said. “I wait at the door whenever they go out, waiting until they are home again.”

Military police are investigating Ahmad’s case, the military said, but it could not provide further details.

Mahmoud, 14

A group of men was huddled outside the Gharbieh house in the Jenin refugee camp on Jan. 14, eating sweets.

It was late and cold, remembers Ashraf Gharbieh, the lone survivor of that night.

His son, Mahmoud, stood up and headed inside to get a spoon. There was a flash of light. The first missile landed. The next came seconds later. Then a third.

Six people died. The elder Gharbieh was left with hearing damage.

The military said the airstrike killed several militants and that it was “aware of claims” that an uninvolved civilian was harmed. It did not say whether it was investigating Mahmoud’s death.

Of his son, Gharbieh says, “I wanted to die with him.”

Amer, 14

Amer Rabee, an American Palestinian teenager born in New Jersey, was killed on a West Bank hilltop in his village of Turmus Ayya. He was picking almonds with friends on April 6, when Israeli soldiers shot him, his father, Mohammed, says.

A security camera in Turmus Ayya, where the population is mostly Palestinian American, captured the sound of 36 gunshots. Amer was killed, his two friends injured.

After Amer died, soldiers stripped off his clothes, put his body in a blue bag and brought it to a military base. Mohammed later opened the bag and identified his body, pockmarked with bullets.

The military declined to say whether the investigation into Amer’s death had concluded. It said its forces had opened fire on “three terrorists,” who it said were throwing stones at a highway and endangering civilians.

Grainy video footage released by the military shows three people, including one who appears to throw something. The video is not timestamped.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said further investigation was needed to determine what happened.

AP journalist Ahmed Daraghmeh contributed from Ramallah. Producer Areej Hazboun and producer Ibrahim Hazboun contributed from Jerusalem.