[PDF version available here]

Key incidents outlined in this LPHR Child Rights Bulletin covering 16 November 2021 – 10 January 2022:

• Two children died from fatal shot wounds, bringing the total number of Palestinian children shot and killed by Israeli forces or civilians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during 2021 to 17.

• A seven-year-old boy was filmed on video being detained by Israeli soldiers on the pretext that he had thrown stones at soldiers.

• 90 children were displaced by the demolition of their homes in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. JCB heavy machinery vehicles are documented on video by B’Tselem in two of these demolition incidents impacting children. Please see LPHR’s public statement dated 12 November 2021 on the important outcome of its OECD complaint against JCB.

• The total number of Palestinian child fatalities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, reported in LPHR Child Rights Bulletins in 2021 is 90, making 2021 the deadliest year on record for Palestinian children since 2014.

The key incidents and statistics outlined in this bulletin span a range of violation categories: ‘Fatalities’, ‘Injuries’, ‘Settler Violence’, ‘Arrests and Detention’, ‘Interference against Education’, ‘Displacement and Demolitions’. They are collated from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and local human rights organisations: Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Yesh Din, Military Court Watch (MCW) and B’Tselem.

This bulletin outlines the specific rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that apply to the key incidents affecting Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). As the occupying power, Israel has legal responsibilities under international conventions, including the UNCRC, for the safety, welfare, and human rights protection of civilians living in the oPt. This bulletin concludes with a Further Reading section.

For all our previous bulletins, please visit the Children’s Rights Project page of LPHR’s website.

LPHR gives special thanks to Pankhuuri Srivastavva, Romy Gaisbichler, Bea Cameron and Matilde Castoldi for their excellent work preparing this bulletin.

FATALITIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that an Israeli armed civilian and a private security guard shot and killed two Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the reporting period of 16 November – 10 January 2022. This brings the total number of Palestinian child fatalities reported in LPHR Child Rights Bulletins in 2021 to 90, making 2021 the deadliest year on record for Palestinian children since 2014.

• DCIP reports that on 17 November, 16-year-old Omar Ibrahim Ayoub Abu Assab was shot and killed after he allegedly stabbed and injured two Israeli paramilitary border police officers in occupied East Jerusalem. An armed Israeli civilian shot Omar multiple times as he seemingly struggled with an Israeli border police officer, according to DCIP’s investigation. Eyewitnesses told DCIP that the armed civilian fired at least six shots at Omar. Omar’s body remains in Israeli custody.

• DCIP reports that on 6 December, 15-year-old Mohammad Nidal Younis Mousa was shot by an Israeli private security guard after he reportedly drove his car into a group of private security guards staffing Jabara military checkpoint (south of Tulkarem) injuring one Israeli guard. Mohammad succumbed to his wounds several hours after being shot. DCIP notes that Mohammad is the 17th Palestinian child shot and killed by Israeli forces or civilians in the occupied West Bank during 2021.

Article 6(1) of the UNCRC provides that every child has the inherent right to life. Under international law, lethal application of force can only be used as a last resort when there is a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury. Israeli forces have been documented to consistently apply lethal application of force where there is lack of evidence to suggest any direct and imminent threat to life. Violations of this legal requirement resulting in an unlawful extrajudicial killing should entail individual criminal responsibility. Indeed, part of providing meaningful protection under the UNCRC involves investigation of, and accountability for, child deaths caused by unlawful application of force. To fulfil its obligations under international law, it is necessary that the Government of Israel thoroughly and transparently investigate the circumstances of the above-mentioned fatal shootings and ensure legal accountability and justice is delivered where there is criminal wrongdoing. However, there is strong evidence indicating that Israel is systemically failing to provide genuine accountability for child deaths, with data collected by the Israeli human rights organisations, B’Tselem and Yesh Din, clearly demonstrating that Israeli soldiers who harm or kill Palestinians are very rarely indicted.

Israel’s policy of withholding bodies of Palestinians, including children, who have been killed by Israeli forces, appears to amount to collective punishment against families, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law. It also may constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of the families of the deceased, a violation of international human rights law, including Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, because of the mental distress it inflicts on the family.

INJURIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that at least 380 Palestinian children (363 boys and 17 girls) were injured by Israeli forces during the reporting period. These injuries were caused by tear gas inhalation, rubber bullets (all types), live ammunition, physical assault, surface launched explosive weapons, tear gas canisters (hit by) and other unspecified weapons. Data collected by UN OCHA states that in total in 2021, at least 1822 children have been injured by Israeli forces (1517 boys and 305 girls).

Injury incidents from 16 November 2021 – 10 January 2022 include:

• UN OCHA reports that between 16 November- 6 December, 441 Palestinians, including 97 children, were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank. Most injuries occurred during clashes in the weekly demonstrations against settlement activity.

• UN OCHA reports that between 7 – 20 December, 109 children were injured by Israeli forces during protests and clashes that occurred during search-and-arrest operations across the West Bank. The majority of injuries were reported in three separate incidents in Burqa and Beita, where 80 children were injured in clashes that erupted with Israeli forces following the entry of Israeli settlers into Palestinian villages.

• UN OCHA reports that in the Gaza Strip, on 29 December, a Palestinian child was injured when Israeli forces fired tank shells at Gaza in response to a Palestinian armed group member shooting and injuring an Israeli man working on the Israeli side of the perimeter fence.

• UN OCHA reports that between 21 December – 10 January, 177 children were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank. Most injuries occurred during five incidents in Burqa, Sabastiya and Deir Sharaf (Nablus), where 124 children were injured by Israeli forces, following stone-throwing between Palestinian residents and Israeli settlers after Israeli settlers raided and attacked Palestinian communities.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states shall ensure children the protection and care necessary for their well-being. The hundreds of children injured by Israeli forces prima facie violates both the letter and the spirit of Article 3(2).

Article 3(2) should be read with Article 3(1), which provides that “in taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures States Parties must place the best interests of the child as a primary consideration”. Even if assuming that the use of the force by Israeli forces during the above-mentioned protests against settlements was an ‘appropriate measure’, it clearly appears to have failed to recognise the potential presence of children and accordingly apply measures to ensure their sufficient protection.

SETTLER VIOLENCE

Settler violence directed at Palestinians continued during the reporting period. One child was injured by Israeli settlers during the period 16 November 2021- 10 January 2022. Data collected by UN OCHA records that 30 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli settlers during 2021. Of these, eight injuries were caused by physical assault and three by live ammunition.

Settler-related injury incidents between 16 November 2021 – 10 January 2022 include:

• UN OCHA reports that during 16 November – 6 December, a child was injured during stone throwing by Israeli settlers at Palestinian vehicles and houses in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron areas.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states should ensure the protection and care of children, as is necessary for their wellbeing. The ongoing violent attacks on children by Israeli settlers strongly indicates that Israel is in breach of Article 3(2). The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din reports that incidents of violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians and their property are a daily occurrence throughout the West Bank and that these incidents are rarely investigated properly by Israeli law enforcement. Moreover, only 3% of the investigations into complaints filed by Palestinians injured by settlers lead to convictions.

The low rate of investigations into attacks by Israeli settlers suggests that Israel is in violation of its obligations under Article 39 of the UNCRC, which stipulates that states should take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery of a child victim of abuse, and that such recovery should take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.

ARRESTS AND DETENTION

Between 16 November 2021 – 10 January 2022, UN OCHA reports that Israeli forces conducted 300 search-and-arrest operations across the West Bank, arresting 438 Palestinians, including an unknown number of children. Search and arrest operations regularly see soldiers raiding family homes, often at night, causing terror and disruption. As of 31 December 2021, Military Court Watch reports that there are 145 Palestinian children (12 – 17 years old) being held in Israeli military detention facilities.

Five of these children are held in administrative detention, meaning they are being detained without charge or trial based on secret evidence.

The majority of child detainees were forcibly transferred to and or unlawfully detained inside Israel. It is a grave breach of international humanitarian law to transfer detainees outside of occupied territory. MCW reports that, as of 6 December 2021, only 20% of child detainees have access to a lawyer prior to or during interrogation and 72% are subject to physical abuse. MCW reports a dramatic increase in the number of children held in solitary confinement. For details, please see our Further Reading section at the foot of this bulletin

Arrest and detention incidents in the reporting period include:

• UN OCHA reports that during the fortnight 16 November – 6 December 2021, three people, including a child, were arrested while reportedly trying to cross into Israel from Gaza via the perimeter fence.

• B’Tselem reports that in Hebron on 16 December, a seven-year-old boy was detained by Israeli soldiers on the pretext that he had thrown stones at soldiers. The boy had been on his way home from the library. About an hour later, on his way home, he came across Palestinian children who were throwing stones at soldiers. The soldiers chased after the children, who ran towards the seven-year-old boy. He panicked and ran into a store. One of the soldiers entered the store, grabbed him by the shirt collar and led him outside screaming and crying. His mother heard the commotion and ran outside and freed him from their grasp.

  Video of this child detention incident shows that neighbours and passers-by joined in and tried to persuade the soldiers to let the child go, but the soldiers pushed them and refused to release him. After some time, the soldiers explained to a Hebrew-speaking neighbour that they demanded the child identify the children who had thrown stones. They showed him photographs of children and demanded he lead them to their homes. When the child replied that he did not know them, one of the soldiers ordered him to stand with his back to the wall and photographed him. The soldier then called his commanding officer, who spoke with the child’s mother and informed her that the child would be released but would be arrested next time.

• UNICEF reports that 17-year-old Palestinian refugee Amal Nakhleh, who has been held in administrative detention since January 2021, remains detained. The details of the charges against him were not disclosed to either Amal or his family, who have simply been informed it is a “confidential administrative case”. Amal suffers from poor health, having been diagnosed with a severe autoimmune disease at birth. His condition requires ongoing treatment and regular monitoring. Prior to his detention, Amal underwent cancer surgery. His condition means that he cannot be vaccinated against Covid-19. Amal must also take immune-suppressants and so is particularly high risk if he contracts Covid-19. Conditions in Israeli military prisons are not conducive either to adequate healthcare or to protection against Covid-19. LPHR’s urgent action letter submitted to the UK government on this case can be read here.

Article 3(1) of the UNCRC obliges states to ensure that: ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’. Further, Article 37(b) of the UNCRC states that no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and that it shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.

Article 37(a) of the UNCRC states that no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 19 of the UNCRC provides that State Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence while in the care of any person who has the care of the child. In its General Comment No. 8, the Committee on the Rights of the Child indicated that “There is no ambiguity: ‘all forms of physical or mental violence’ does not leave room for any level of legalized violence against children” The use of solitary confinement for children in detention is a clear breach of Article 37(a) and Article 19 of the UNCRC.

INTERFERENCE AGAINST EDUCATION

Infringements on education in the reporting period of 16 November 2021 – 10 January 2022 include:

• UN OCHA reports that between 16 November- 6 December, 18 pupils were tear gassed or physically assaulted and injured by Israeli forces in seven incidents affecting schools in Al Lubban ash Sharqiya (Nablus) and in the H2 area of Hebron City. In H2, Palestinian students reportedly threw stones at Israeli forces and the latter shot tear gas canisters at a nearby school compound; 15 girls were treated for teargas inhalation and students from the nearby three schools were evacuated due to the intensity of the gas. In five incidents in Al Lubban ash Sharqiya, three school students were injured and about 70 others inhaled teargas, after Israeli forces fired teargas canisters and sound bombs at students, disrupting classes. These five incidents occurred after Israeli settlers gathered near the school protesting that they had been hit by stones thrown from the school premises.

• UN OCHA reports that on 29 December, Israeli forces physically assaulted and injured a teacher while staff were trying to prevent them from entering a high school in Tuqu’ (Bethlehem).

• UN OCHA reports that on 10 January, a student was shot and arrested along with four other students in Birzeit University (Ramallah). LPHR’s urgent action letter submitted to the UK government on this case can be read here.

Article 28 of the UNCRC stipulates that education should be accessible to all children on the basis of equal opportunity, obliging Israel to ensure that children in the oPt have unrestricted access to education. The abovementioned interferences with education appear to clearly breach both the spirit and the letter of Article 28.

DEMOLITIONS & DISPLACEMENT

Demolitions and displacement remain a matter of huge concern. Data collected by UN OCHA records that 208 people, including 90 children (49 girls and 41 boys) were displaced by the demolition of 36 inhabited residential structures. Altogether during the reporting period, 146 structures were demolished.

Incidents of demolitions and displacement during the reporting period include:

• B’Tselem reports that on 17 November, a family of eight, including six children, was forced to self-demolish a house it had begun building in the neighbourhood of a-Shayah on Olive Mount in East Jerusalem, after a demolition order was issued.

• B’Tselem reports that on 23 November, 15 children lost their homes after Israeli forces demolished and confiscated multiple dwellings. Demolitions included a two-storey building housing a family of five, including three children. The building was in the neighbourhood of Wadi al-Hummus, the eastern extension of Zur Baher, in East Jerusalem.

• B’Tselem reports that on 30 November, Israeli forces demolished the home of a family of five, including three children, in the neighbourhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

• B’Tselem reports that on 2 December, in Khirbet al-Markaz in the area of Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills, Israeli forces demolished four tin-roofed stone structures, which housed four families, including six children. A JCB heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used at the demolition scene. Please see LPHR’s public statement dated 12 November 2021 on the important outcome of its OECD complaint against JCB.

• B’Tselem reports that on 3 December, a family of five, including three children, was forced to self-demolish its own home, which was still under construction, in the neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukabber after receiving a demolition order.

• B’Tselem reports that on 4 December, a family of five, including three children, was forced to self-demolish its home in the neighbourhood of Beit Hanina after receiving a demolition order.

• B’Tselem reports that on 6 December, a family of six, including four children, was forced to self-demolish its own home in the neighbourhood of Silwan after receiving a demolition order.

• B’Tselem reports that on 14 December, Israeli forces demolished the home of a family of 11, including five children, in the neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukabber. On the same day, in the neighbourhood of Silwan, three families (including 11 children) were forced to demolish their own homes following a demolition order.

• UN OCHA reports that, as of 20 December, a Palestinian refugee family of 11 people, including four children, is at heightened risk of forced eviction from its home in the Um Haroun area of Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem. According to the family, they have lived there since 1951. In East Jerusalem, a total of 218 Palestinian households comprising 970 people, including 424 children, are facing forced eviction cases, mainly initiated by settler organisations.

• B’Tselem reports that on 21 December, a family of six, including three children, was forced to self-demolish its own home in the neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukabber. A JCB heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used at the demolition scene. Please see LPHR’s public statement dated 12 November 2021 on the important outcome of its OECD complaint against JCB.

• B’Tselem reports that on 28 December, in Khirbet Ibzik, Israeli forces dismantled and confiscated three residential tents belonging to three families (including six children) as well as eight tents used as livestock enclosures, two water tanks and two solar panels.

• B’Tselem reports that on 28 December, a family of eight, including five children, was forced to self-demolish its own home in the neighbourhood of Um Laysun.

• UN OCHA reports that between 21 December 2021- 10 January 2022, the Israeli authorities demolished, seized, or forced owners to demolish, 63 Palestinian-owned structures, citing lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, 35 children were displaced. 19 structures, including seven residential shelters, had been provided as humanitarian assistance in response to previous demolitions.

• UN OCHA reports that between 27 December 2021- 2 January 2022, at least six Palestinian families were forced to evacuate their homes for most of the day to make way for Israeli military trainings in the Ibziq area of the Jordan Valley. 38 people, including 17 children were affected. B’Tselem reports that on five occasions in December, the military evacuated families from Khirbet Ibzik on the pretext that it needs to hold training by the community’s homes.

Article 27 of the UNCRC protects children’s right to a standard of living and seeks to ensure that this standard is adequate with respect to the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The UNCRC further adds that State Parties are responsible for taking appropriate measures to provide assistance in respect to nutrition, clothing and housing. The actions of the Government of Israel in rendering children and their parents homeless and disrupting families’ livelihoods through demolitions of homes and the destruction of water pipelines, clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the UNCRC.

Article 18(2) of the UNCRC obliges State Parties to give appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities. Demolitions and subsequent forced displacement violate this right as it harms parents and legal guardians’ ability to fulfil their responsibilities of looking after and providing shelter for their children.

Article 16(1) of the UNCRC protects children’s rights to not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family and home and Article 16(2) entitles children to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Demolitions affect this right as it physically displaces children from their family homes without first giving them access to a legal system through which they could challenge such actions.

Further Reading

Marked surge in the number of Palestinian children held in solitary confinement

On 7 December 2021, MCW published a report titled ‘Solitary Confinement’, reporting that the percentage of Palestinian child detainees being held in solitary confinement while held in Israeli military detention has risen from a historical average of less than 4% to nearly 20% between January 2019 and May 2021. The report estimates that between 100 to 200 children are now being held in solitary confinement by Israel’s military authorities each year.

The report documents the adverse psychological and physical impacts of solitary confinement for an average of 10.5 days on children, including weight loss, self-harm, and attempted suicide. The then UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, determined that the imposition of solitary confinement of any duration against a child would constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in violation of Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 16 of the Convention against Torture.

[PDF version available here]

Key incidents outlined in this LPHR Child Rights Bulletin covering 1 September – 15 November 2021:

• Three children died after being shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank

• A three-year-old child suffered a skull fracture after being hit with a stone during a settler attack

• 29 children were displaced by the demolition of their homes in the West Bank.

• A JCB heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used in the dismantling and confiscation of residential tents intended to house 13 children. Please see LPHR’s public statement dated 12 November 2021 on the important outcome of its OECD complaint against JCB.

The key incidents and statistics outlined in this bulletin span a range of violation categories: ‘Fatalities’, ‘Injuries’, ‘Settler Violence’, ‘Arrests and Detention’, ‘Interference against Education’, ‘Displacement and Demolitions’. They are collated from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and local human rights organisations: Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Yesh Din, Military Court Watch (MCW) and B’Tselem.

This bulletin outlines the specific rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that apply to the key incidents affecting Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). As the occupying power, Israel has legal responsibilities under international conventions, including the UNCRC, for the safety, welfare and human rights protection of civilians living in the oPt. This bulletin concludes with a Further Reading section.

LPHR gives special thanks to Mireia Font Criach for her excellent work preparing this bulletin.

For all our previous bulletins, please visit the Children’s Rights Project page of LPHR’s website.

FATALITIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian children during the reporting period of 1 September – 15 November 2021. This brings the total number of Palestinian child fatalities reported in LPHR Child Rights Bulletins in 2021 to 88.

• UN OCHA reports that on 26 September, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed in Birqin Village (Jenin). The shooting occurred during exchanges of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the context of Israeli search-and-arrest operations in the village. DCIP reports that after Israeli forces began raiding Birqin village at 03:00, armed clashes ensued between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen. Hours later, Yousef Mohammad Fathi Odeh reportedly picked up a firearm and fired at an Israeli military vehicle. An Israeli sniper shot him multiple times. DCIP reports that an Israeli military vehicle ran over the boy’s body, which was confiscated and has yet to be returned to the boy’s family.

• UN OCHA reports that on 14 October, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy during an incident in which Israeli forces also shot and injured another 14-year-old boy. According to testimony collected by DCIP, Amjad Osama Jalal Abu Sultan was shot three times by Israeli forces after he lit a Molotov cocktail in Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem. Israeli forces confiscated Amjad’s body after the killing and have not released it to his family.

• DCIP reports that on 5 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Deir Al-Hatab village, in the northern occupied West Bank, during confrontations between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youth. Mohammad Amjad Salem Da’das was shot in the abdomen by Israeli forces, dying around an hour later. Protests against an Israeli settlement built on Deir Al-Hatab village’s lands are frequent in the area.

Article 6(1) of the UNCRC provides that every child has the inherent right to life. Under international law, lethal application of force can only be used as a last resort when there is a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury. Israeli forces have been documented to consistently apply lethal application of force where there is lack of evidence to suggest any direct and imminent threat to life. Violations of this legal requirement resulting in an unlawful extrajudicial killing should entail individual criminal responsibility. Indeed, part of providing meaningful protection under the UNCRC involves investigation of, and accountability for, child deaths caused by unlawful application of force. To fulfil its obligations under international law, it is necessary that the Government of Israel thoroughly and transparently investigate the circumstances of the above-mentioned fatal shootings and ensure legal accountability and justice is delivered where there is criminal wrongdoing. However, there is strong evidence indicating that Israel is systemically failing to provide genuine accountability for child deaths, with data collected by the Israeli human rights organisations, B’Tselem and Yesh Din, clearly demonstrating that Israeli soldiers who harm or kill Palestinians are very rarely indicted.

Israel’s policy of withholding bodies of Palestinians, including children, who have been killed by Israeli forces, amounts to collective punishment against families, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law and a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention. It also amounts to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of the families of the deceased, a violation of international human rights law, including Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, because of the mental distress it is inflicting on the family.

INJURIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that at least 139 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli forces during the reporting period. These injuries were caused by tear gas inhalation, rubber bullets, live ammunition, physical assault, tear gas canisters and other unspecified weapons. So far in 2021, 1477 children have been injured by Israeli forces (295 girls and 1182 boys).

Injury incidents from 1 September – 15 November 2021 include:

• UN OCHA reports that during the fortnight of 7-20 September, Israeli forces injured 568 Palestinians, including 73 children, across the West Bank. The majority were injured during protests against settlement activities in Nablus.

• UN OCHA reports that on 13 September, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was shot by an Israeli policeman and admitted to hospital in critical condition after he stabbed two Israeli civilians in West Jerusalem.

• UN OCHA reports that in September, an Israeli child was injured while running to a shelter after Palestinian armed groups fired rockets at Israel from Gaza on four occasions.

• Additional injuries are reported below in the Settler Violence section.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states shall ensure children the protection and care necessary for their well-being. The hundreds of children injured by Israeli forces prima facie violates both the letter and the spirit of Article 3(2).

Article 3(2) should be read with Article 3(1), which provides that “in taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures States Parties must place the best interests of the child as a primary consideration”. Even assuming that the use of the force by Israeli forces during the above-mentioned protests against settlements was an ‘appropriate measure’, it failed to recognise the potential presence of children and accordingly apply sufficient protection.

SETTLER VIOLENCE

Settler violence directed at Palestinians continued during the reporting period. Data collected by UN OCHA records that seven Palestinian children were injured by Israeli settlers during the reporting period. At least 31 children have been injured by Israeli settlers in 2021.

Settler-related injury incidents between 1 September – 15 November include:

• UN OCHA reports that in September, Israeli settlers physically assaulted a sixteen-year-old Palestinian boy in the H2 area of Hebron.

• B’Tselem reports on 28 September, about 10 masked settlers, some armed with clubs and one with a knife, attacked residents of Khirbet al-Mufaqarah (Massafer Yatta), before stoning homes in the village. A three-year-old boy was hit in the head with a stone and suffered a fracture to his skull. Two other three-year-olds were injured in the incident.

• UN OCHA reports that in October, in Hebron, a boy was pepper-sprayed and a seven-year-old girl fell down and injured herself while being chased by settlers.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states should ensure the protection and care of children, as is necessary for their wellbeing. The ongoing violent attacks on children by Israeli settlers strongly indicates that Israel is in breach of Article 3(2). The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din reports that incidents of violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians and their property are a daily occurrence throughout the West Bank and that these incidents are rarely investigated properly by Israeli law enforcement. Moreover, only 3% of the investigations into complaints filed by Palestinians injured by settlers lead to convictions.

The low rate of investigations into attacks by Israeli settlers suggests that Israel is in violation of its obligations under Article 39 of the UNCRC, which stipulates that states should take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery of a child victim of abuse, and that such recovery should take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child. As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to protect Palestinian civilians from all acts or threats of violence, including by Israeli settlers, and to ensure that attacks are investigated effectively and perpetrators held accountable.

ARRESTS AND DETENTION

Between 1 September 2021- 15 November 2021, UN OCHA reports that Israeli forces conducted over 417 search and arrest operations in the West Bank, arresting 530 Palestinians (including an unknown number of children). Search and arrest operations regularly see soldiers raiding family homes, often at night, causing terror and disruption. MCW reports that the majority of detained children continue to be arrested from their homes in the middle of the night. As of 30 September 2021 (latest Israeli Prison Service figures available) Military Court Watch documents that 159 Palestinian children (12 – 17 years old) are held in Israeli military detention facilities.

Six of these children are held under administrative detention, meaning they are being detained without charge or trial based on secret evidence.

The majority of child detainees were forcibly transferred to and or unlawfully detained inside Israel. It is a grave breach of international humanitarian law to transfer detainees outside of occupied territory. MCW reports that in 2021, 70% of children report experiencing some form of physical abuse following their arrest. Reported violence includes: punching, kicking, slapping, being put in a stress position and struck with objects such as guns.

Arrest and detention incidents in the reporting period include:

• MCW reports that on 1 September, the Israeli High Court confirmed that Israeli soldiers can enter Palestinian homes in the West Bank without a warrant, whereas a warrant is required to enter the homes of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

• B’Tselem reports that on 3 September 2021, at around 20:00, eight soldiers entered the residential building of the extended Da’na family in Hebron, on the pretext of searching for children who had thrown stones at a nearby road. The soldiers ordered the occupants to bring their children to the balcony so they could photograph them. The parents began gathering their children, some of whom were sleeping. Three of the soldiers entered two of the apartments and wandered among the rooms. Other soldiers remained on the balcony, where the children began to gather. At the same time, some soldiers went up to the building’s rooftop and detained several young men, aged 15 to 25, preventing the family members from documenting the incident. After photographing the line-up of school-aged children, the soldiers left the building. B’Tselem notes, “This footage illustrates how the routine of Palestinian subjects living under the occupation is disturbed arbitrarily and how easily soldiers violate their rights. It seems that for the military, all Palestinians, including school-age children, are potential offenders.”

• B’Tselem reports that on 13 September, two children were apparently arbitrarily shot at, arrested, detained and severely abused by Israeli soldiers and interrogators. The boys, a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old, were detained for 24-hours before being released. The boys were playing on their family’s land in the village of Ni’lin. After firing shots at the boys, soldiers handcuffed them, punched them, kicked them all over their bodies and swore at them. The boys were taken to a military facility near the Ni’lin Checkpoint. They were interrogated separately and required to sign documents in Hebrew. They were then forced to wait outside, blindfolded. At 01:00, they were handcuffed and taken to a military camp, where they were put in a freezing room and given wet mattresses. At around 17:00, they were taken handcuffed and blindfolded to a hospital, where they were examined. In a room in the hospital, a police officer held a video call on his phone with the military court at Ofer Prison. That was the first time the boys saw their lawyer, who translated the proceedings for them. After a hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes, the judge announced that they would each be released on bail.

Article 3(1) of the UNCRC obliges states to ensure that: “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.” Further, Article 37(b) of the UNCRC states that no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and that it shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. The above-mentioned apparent arbitrary arrest of two children and the continuation of incidents where children are detained, interrogated, allegedly threatened with violence and or assaulted before being released, suggests that both Article 3(1) and Article 37(b) are being breached.

Under Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is illegal for the occupying power to imprison detainees inside its own territory. Israel’s continued detention of Palestinian children from the West Bank inside Israel appears a clear breach of Article 76, which amounts to a war crime under international law.

INTERFERENCE AGAINST EDUCATION

Infringements on education in the reporting period of 1 September- 15 November include:

• UN OCHA reports that on 1 September, Israeli forces raided a school in the Wadi Al Joz neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, detained the school principal and an employee, and seized a number of computers and files.

• UN OCHA reports that in September, over 55 teachers and pupils were teargassed in six schools by Israeli forces. In the H2 area of Hebron, Palestinian students reportedly threw stones at Israeli forces and the latter shot tear gas canisters at a nearby school compound; six students and 46 teachers were treated for tear gas inhalation and the three schools were evacuated due to the intensity of the gas.

• UN OCHA reports that in an additional incident in September, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters into a school in Anata town (Jerusalem). Two girls and one teacher were taken to hospital, and classes were suspended for the remainder of the day, affecting over 500 pupils.

• UN OCHA reports that at the end of October, about 50 pupils were affected when parts of their school, which had been constructed with international funding, was confiscated in Hammamat al Maleh community (Tubas).

Article 28 of the UNCRC stipulates that education should be accessible to all children on the basis of equal opportunity, obliging Israel to ensure that children in the oPt have unrestricted access to education. The above-mentioned interferences with education appear to breach both the spirit and the letter of Article 28.

DEMOLITIONS & DISPLACEMENT

Demolitions and displacement remain a matter of huge concern. Data collected by UN OCHA records that 58 people, including 29 children (15 girls and 14 boys) have been displaced by the demolition of 12 residential structures, taking the number of children displaced by demolitions in the West Bank in 2021 to 571. Altogether during the reporting period, 107 structures were demolished.

Incidents of demolitions and displacement during the reporting period include:

• B’Tselem reports that on 25 October, Israeli forces destroyed a main water line that was serving most of the communities in Massafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills. Communities in Massafer Yatta have repeatedly had their water lines destroyed by Israeli forces. A JCB heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used at the scene of the destruction of the water line. Please see LPHR’s public statement dated 12 November 2021 on the important outcome of its OECD complaint against JCB.

• B’Tselem reports that on 1 November, in the community of ‘Ein al-Meyteh (northern Jordan Valley) Israeli forces demolished three residential tents that were home to a family of nine, including seven children.

• B’Tselem reports that on 3 November, in the community of al-Jawaya (South Hebron Hills) Israeli forces demolished the home of a family of 15, including seven children.

• B’Tselem reports that on 7 November, in Khirbet Um al-Jamal in the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli forces dismantled and confiscated four residential tents intended to house an extended family of 19, including 13 children, and equipment for the construction of three livestock enclosures belonging to the same family. A JCB heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used at the scene. Please see LPHR’s public statement dated 12 November 2021 on the important outcome of its OECD complaint against JCB.

Article 27 of the UNCRC protects children’s right to a standard of living and seeks to ensure that this standard is adequate with respect to the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The UNCRC further adds that State Parties are responsible for taking appropriate measures to provide assistance in respect to nutrition, clothing and housing. The actions of the Government of Israel in rendering children and their parents homeless and disrupting families’ livelihoods through demolitions of homes and the destruction of water pipelines, clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the UNCRC.

Article 18(2) of the UNCRC obliges State Parties to give appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities. Demolitions and subsequent forced displacement violate this right as it harms parents and legal guardians’ ability to fulfil their responsibilities of looking after and providing shelter for their children.

Article 16(1) of the UNCRC protects children’s rights to not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family and home and Article 16(2) entitles children to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Demolitions affect this right as it physically displaces children from their family homes without first giving them access to a legal system through which they could challenge such actions.

Further Reading

Palestinian children continue to be maltreated during arrest and detention.

MCW reports that it has taken its 900th testimony from a child detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank. MCW reports that these testimonies, collected between 2013 and 2021, confirm UNICEF’s 2013 conclusion that “the ill-treatment of children who come in contact with the [Israeli] military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized throughout the process.” In DCIP’s recently released short documentary, ‘Caging Childhood: Palestinian Children in Israel’s Military Detention System’, three Palestinian children discuss their experience of being detained, interrogated, prosecuted, and imprisoned in Israeli military detention.

[PDF version is available here]

Key incidents outlined in this LPHR Child Rights Bulletin covering 1 June – 31 August 2021:

• Six children died after being shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, including an 11-year-old boy shot in the chest, a 13-year-old shot in the neck, two 15-year-old’s shot in the head, a 16-year-old shot in the chest and a 17-year-old shot in the back

• A nine-year-old boy died after finding and handling an explosive remnant of war on land near his home in the occupied Gaza Strip

• A 17-year-old died during a home demolition in occupied East Jerusalem

• A 15-year-old boy was abducted and subjected to a sustained brutal attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on 17 August

The key incidents and statistics outlined in this bulletin span a range of violation categories: ‘Fatalities’, ‘Injuries’, ‘Settler Violence’, ‘Arrests and Detention’, ‘Interference against Education’, ‘Displacement and Demolitions’. They are collated from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and local human rights organisations: Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Yesh Din, Military Court Watch (MCW) and B’Tselem.

This bulletin outlines the specific rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that apply to the key incidents affecting Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). As the occupying power, Israel has legal responsibilities under international conventions, including the UNCRC, for the safety, welfare and human rights protection of civilians living in the oPt. This bulletin concludes with a Further Reading section.

For all our previous bulletins, please visit the Children’s Rights Project page of LPHR’s website.

FATALITIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that eight Palestinian children died during the reporting period of 1 June – 31 August 2021. Six children were shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. One child died after finding and handling an explosive remnant of war in the occupied Gaza Strip. One child died during a house demolition in occupied East Jerusalem. This brings the total number of Palestinian child fatalities reported in LPHR Child Rights Bulletins in 2021 to 85.

• UN OCHA reports that on 9 June, a nine-year-old boy was killed by the detonation of an explosive remnant of war (ERW) in Gaza City. Obaida Salahuddin Salman al-Dahdouh was killed after he found ERW on agricultural land adjacent to his home and brought it with him to his front yard, DCIP reports. The military action in Gaza in May 2021 left debris and farmland heavily contaminated with ERWs. Obaida’s 16-year-old brother was hit with shrapnel in his legs and arms when the ERW exploded.

• UN OCHA reports that in June, two Palestinian children were killed by Israeli forces using live ammunition against Palestinians protesting the establishment of a new Israeli settlement near Beita village, Nablus. Since the establishment of the Israeli settlement in early May, Israeli forces have shot and killed five Palestinians with live ammunition during protests in Beita. On 11 June in clashes that erupted during a weekly demonstration, Israeli forces shot in the chest and killed 16-year-old Mohammad Said Mohammad, according to DCIP. On 16 June, Israeli forces shot 15-year-old Ahmad Zahi Ibrahim Bani-Shamsa in the head with live ammunition. DCIP reports that Ahmad did not present any threat to Israeli forces at the time he was shot.

• UN OCHA reports that a boy died after being shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces on 23 July. Israeli forces entered An Nabi Salih (Ramallah) to carry out an arrest operation, and when Palestinian residents threw stones at them, soldiers shot live ammunition and tear gas canisters. DCIP reports that 17-year-old Mohammad Munir Mohammad Tamimi was shot in the back with live ammunition by an Israeli soldier who was inside a military vehicle three metres away. According to the Israeli military, Mohammad was throwing stones and endangering the life of soldiers.

• UN OCHA reports that Israeli forces shot and killed an 11-year-old boy on 28 July near the entrance to the town of Beit Ummar (Hebron). The boy was sitting in a car with his father when he was shot. UN OCHA reports that the car slowly drove away from soldiers when some of them started running after the vehicle and opened fire. According to the Israeli military, the driver did not heed an order to stop, and soldiers aimed at the wheels. DCIP reports that 11-year-old Mohammad Mo’ayyad Bahjat Abu Sara was shot in the chest.

• UN OCHA reports that a child died during protests near Israel’s perimeter fence around Gaza. DCIP reports that 13-year-old Omar Hasan Mousa Abu Al-Nil died a week after being shot in the neck with live ammunition by Israeli forces. Omar was shot at around 17:30 on August 21, while standing 70-100 metres away from the perimeter fence observing the demonstrations. On the day Omar was shot, hundreds of Palestinians protested near the perimeter fence in the eastern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces fired live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas grenades at protesters, injuring at least 20 children, according to DCIP.

• UN OCHA reports that on 24 August, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a night-time search and arrest operation in Balata refugee camp (Nablus). DCIP reports that Imad Khaled Saleh Hashash was shot in the head by Israeli forces at around 04:00 as he stood on the roof of his home watching as Israeli forces conducted a raid.

• UN OCHA reports that on 28 August, 17-year-old died when a concrete wall fell on him while he was helping his neighbours demolish their home in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, following a demolition order. ‘Self-demolitions’ are typically carried out so that the home owners avoid paying fines and the cost of the Israeli authorities carrying out the demolition.

Article 6(1) of the UNCRC provides that every child has the inherent right to life. Under international law, lethal application of force can only be used as a last resort when there is a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury. Israeli forces have been documented to consistently apply lethal application of force where there is lack of evidence to suggest any direct and imminent threat to life. Violations of this legal requirement resulting in an unlawful extrajudicial killing should entail individual criminal responsibility. Indeed, part of providing meaningful protection under the UNCRC involves investigation of, and accountability for, child deaths caused by unlawful application of force.

To fulfil its obligations under international law, it is necessary that the Government of Israel thoroughly and transparently investigate the circumstances of the above-mentioned fatal shootings and ensure legal accountability and justice is delivered where there is criminal wrongdoing. However, there is strong evidence indicating that Israel is systemically failing to provide genuine accountability for child deaths, with data collected by the Israeli human rights organisations, B’Tselem and Yesh Din, clearly demonstrating that Israeli soldiers who harm or kill Palestinians are very rarely indicted.

INJURIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that 411 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli forces during the reporting period. These injuries were caused by tear gas inhalation, rubber bullets, live ammunition, physical assault and other unspecified weapons.

Injury incidents from 1 June – 31 August 2021 include:

• B’Tselem reports that on 1 June, a 17-year-old was beaten by Israeli soldiers during a night time raid on his family home. The boy reports that the soldiers tied his hands behind his back and blindfolded him before he was punched in the head, shoulders and chest. Violent night-time military incursions into Palestinian homes in the West Bank occur on a regular basis. Please see our Further Reading section below for more information about this practice.

• UN OCHA reports that during the fortnight 15- 28 June, Israeli forces injured at least 1,075 Palestinians, including 238 children, across the West Bank. The majority of children were injured during protests (against the establishment of a new Israeli settlement) in Beita, 47 of them by rubber bullets.

• UN OCHA reports that between 29 June- 12 July, Israeli forces injured at least 981 Palestinians, including 133 children, in clashes across the West Bank. Of those injured, 892 were in Nablus governorate, including during protests against settlement expansion in the villages of Beita and Osarin.

• UN OCHA reports that during the fortnight 13- 26 July, Israeli forces injured 615 Palestinians across the West Bank, including 24 children, the youngest of whom is a three-month-old baby. In Ein al Hilwa in the Jordan Valley, 13 Palestinian children were injured when Israeli settlers tried to confiscate a water tank, triggering clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli forces.

• UN OCHA reports that in July, Palestinians throwing stones injured at least four Israeli settlers, including a one-year-old baby, travelling in East Jerusalem.

• UN OCHA reports that on 22 July, six children were injured as a result of an explosion in a building in Gaza City. The three-storey structure collapsed and several nearby houses and shops sustained damage. UN OCHA reports that some sources suggested that the blast resulted from explosives which were being stored in the building.

• UN OCHA reports that in two separate incidents in August, five children were injured while handling explosive remnants of war in Gaza city.

• UN OCHA reports that on 21 August, hundreds of people held a mass demonstration on the Gaza side of Israel’s perimeter fence that encloses the Gaza Strip. During the protest, people hurled stones and other objects towards Israeli forces and Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters. The Ministry of Health in Gaza documented 53 Palestinian injuries, including 25 children. 46 of those injured were hit with live ammunition.

• Additional injuries are reported below in the Settler Violence section.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states shall ensure children the protection and care necessary for their well-being. The hundreds of children injured by Israeli forces prima facie violates both the letter and the spirit of Article 3(2).

Article 3(2) should be read with Article 3(1), which provides that “in taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures States Parties must place the best interests of the child as a primary consideration”. Even assuming that the use of the force by the police during the above-mentioned protests against settlements was an ‘appropriate measure’, it failed to recognise the potential presence of children and apply sufficient protection. The same applies to the assault of a child during a night time raid on his home and to the explosion in Gaza City. Palestinian armed groups must take measures to protect civilians including not storing explosive weapons in densely populated civilian areas.

Equally, the lack of safety measures in place with regard to protecting children from unexploded ordnance in Gaza suggests a level of neglect that amounts to a violation under Article 3(1) and Article 3(2) of the UNCRC.

SETTLER VIOLENCE

Data collected by UN OCHA records that 13 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli settlers during the reporting period. At least 24 children have been injured by Israeli settlers in 2021.

Settler-related injury incidents between 1 June – 31 August include:

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 1-14 June, perpetrators known or believed to be Israeli settlers injured four children. In one incident in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian and his two children were pepper-sprayed and required medical treatment.

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 15-28 June, Israeli settlers injured four girls. The girls were pepper-sprayed in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 29 June- 12 July, Israeli settlers injured four children in the West Bank.

• UN OCHA reports that on 17 August, Israeli settlers abducted a 15-year-old boy in the West Bank, subjecting him to a sustained brutal attack. Settlers chased and struck the boy with their vehicle near Silat adh Dhahr village (Jenin), before tying him to the hood of their vehicle and driving him to the previously evacuated Israeli settlement Homesh, where they tied him to a tree and beat him until he lost consciousness. DCI reports that the boy was beaten him with wooden sticks before he was taken to the Homesh, where the settlers then beat, pepper sprayed, blindfolded the boy. He was hit, kicked, slapped and spat on him for around 90 minutes. The settlers also hung the boy from a tree. One of the settlers tasered the child with an electrified baton and burned the sole of his foot.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states should ensure the protection and care of children, as is necessary for their wellbeing. The ongoing violent attacks on children by Israeli settlers strongly indicates that Israel is in breach of Article 3(2). The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din reports that incidents of violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians and their property are a daily occurrence throughout the West Bank and that these incidents are rarely investigated properly by Israeli law enforcement. Only 3% of investigations into complaints filed by Palestinians injured by settlers lead to convictions.

The low rate of investigations into attacks by Israeli settlers suggests that Israel is in violation of its obligations under Article 39 of the UNCRC, which stipulates that states should take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery of a child victim of abuse, and that such recovery should take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child. As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to protect Palestinian civilians from all acts or threats of violence, including by Israeli settlers, and to ensure that attacks are investigated effectively and perpetrators held accountable.

ARRESTS AND DETENTION

Between 1 June 2021- 31 August 2021, UN OCHA reports that Israeli forces conducted over 711 search and arrest operations in the West Bank, arresting at least 54 children. As of 30 June 2021 (latest Israeli Prison Service figures available) Military Court Watch documents that 170 Palestinian children (12 – 17 years old) are held in Israeli military detention facilities.

DCIP reports that between one to four of these children are held under administrative detention, meaning they are being detained without charge or trial based on secret evidence. The majority of child detainees were forcibly transferred to and or unlawfully detained inside Israel. It is a grave breach of international humanitarian law to transfer detainees outside of occupied territory. MCW reports that 60% of children continue to report experiencing some form of physical abuse following their arrest. Reported violence includes: punching, kicking, slapping, being put in a stress position and struck with objects such as guns.

Arrest and detention incidents in the reporting period include:

• MCW reports that on 1 June, a 15-year-old boy was questioned at Etzion police station following a telephone summons from an Israeli intelligence officer. He was held for five hours and questioned without being informed of his legal rights before being released without charge. In testimony given to MCW, the boy describes being threatened with extreme physical violence by one of his interrogators.

• UN OCHA reports that during the fortnight 1- 14 June, Israeli forces carried out 129 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 265 Palestinians, including 30 children, across the West Bank. Of the total, 17 children were arrested in Jerusalem.

• UN OCHA reports that on 4 July, the Israeli authorities summoned a nine-year-old Palestinian boy for interrogation for unknown reasons in the Old City of Jerusalem. Between mid-April and 12 July, at least 65 Palestinian children were arrested by the Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem.

Article 3(1) of the UNCRC obliges states to ensure that: ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’. Further, Article 37(b) of the UNCRC states that no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and that it shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. The above-mentioned summons of a child below the age of criminal responsibility and the continuation of incidents where children are detained, interrogated, allegedly threatened with violence and or assaulted before being released, suggests that both Article 3(1) and Article 37(b) are being breached.

Under Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is illegal for the occupying power to imprison detainees inside its own territory. Israel’s continued detention of Palestinian children from the West Bank inside Israel appears a clear breach of Article 76, which amounts to a war crime under international law

INTERFERENCE AGAINST EDUCATION

Infringements on education in the reporting period of 1 June- 31 August include:

• UN OCHA reports that Israeli authorities demolished an under-construction school in Shu’fat (East Jerusalem).

• UN OCHA reports that in August, around 100 children were affected by the demolition of an extension to a building planned to be used as a kindergarten in the Beit Safafa neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

• UN OCHA reports that in August, two schoolchildren were injured in clashes that erupted with Israeli forces in the vicinity of a school in Tayasir community (Tubas).

Article 28 of the UNCRC stipulates that education should be accessible to all children on the basis of equal opportunity, obliging Israel to ensure that children in the oPt have unrestricted access to education.

DEMOLITIONS & DISPLACEMENT

Demolitions and displacement remain a matter of huge concern. Data collected by UN OCHA records that 462 people, including 272 children (126 girls and 146 boys) have been displaced by the demolition of 330 structures during the reporting period, taking the number of children displaced by demolitions in the West Bank in 2021 to 531. In Gaza, about 8,250 people (including an unspecified number of children) remain internally displaced following damage to or the destruction of their homes during the military action that took place 10- 21 May.

Incidents of demolitions and displacement during the reporting period include:

• UN OCHA reports that during the fortnight 1- 14 June, the Israeli authorities demolished, seized or forced the demolition of 53 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank for lacking building permits, displacing 71 people, including 43 children and otherwise affecting more than 1,000 Palestinians. Most of those affected were in the Massafer Yatta area of Hebron, where the Israeli authorities destroyed a water network serving multiple communities. B’Tselem reports that dozens of families were left without a water supply.

• UN OCHA reports that following the repair of the above-mentioned main water pipeline serving multiple communities in Massafer Yatta, the Israeli authorities destroyed it for the second time on 23 June.

• B’Tselem reports that on 7 June 2021, the Israeli authorities dismantled and confiscated residential structures, displacing 37 people, including 24 children, in the community of Badu al-Mu’arrajat in the Jordan Valley. The community was targeted again on 12 June, when Israeli forces dismantled and confiscated three tents that were home to two families numbering 17 people, including 9 children.

• B’Tselem reports that on 8 July, Israeli forces attempted the forcible transfer of residents of Khirbet Humsah (northern Jordan Valley) to an area located near ‘Ein Shibli. Israeli forces declared Khirbet Humsah a closed military zone and dismantled nine tents and four huts used as residences, 17 agricultural structures, four water tanks and water lines. The structures belonged to nine families (including 34 children). The residents’ belongings were loaded onto trucks and transported to ‘Ein Shibli. A JCB heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be present at the demolition scene.

• UN OCHA reports that on 14 July, Israeli forces confiscated at least 49 structures in the Palestinian community of Ras al Tin, displacing 84 people, including 53 children.

• UN OCHA reports that on 15 July, Israeli forces in Humsa – Al Bqai’a confiscated a recently installed structure used to accommodate a family of eight, including six children, who had lost their previous home the week before in the abovementioned attempted forcible transfer on 8 July.

• B’Tselem reports that on 4 August, in the community of Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli forces dismantled and confiscated structures (including 4 residential tents) owned by 3 families, leaving 25 people including 17 children homeless during a heat wave.

• UN OCHA reports that in August, the Israeli authorities demolished, seized or forced people to demolish 108 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. This caused the displacement of 160 people, including 97 children, and affected the livelihoods of over 1,000 other people. All targeted structures were recorded in Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Article 27 of the UNCRC protects children’s right to a standard of living and seeks to ensure that this standard is adequate with respect to the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The UNCRC further adds that State Parties are responsible for taking appropriate measures to provide assistance in respect to nutrition, clothing and housing. The actions of the Government of Israel in rendering children and their parents homeless and disrupting families’ livelihoods through demolitions of homes clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the UNCRC.

Article 18(2) of the UNCRC obliges State Parties to give appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities. Demolitions and subsequent forced displacement violate this right as it harms parents and legal guardians’ ability to fulfil their responsibilities of looking after and providing shelter for their children.

Article 16(1) of the UNCRC protects children’s rights to not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family and home and Article 16(2) entitles children to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Demolitions affect this right as it physically displaces children from their family homes without first giving them access to a legal system through which they could challenge such actions.

Further Reading

Continued abuse of children held in Israeli military detention

Military Court Watch reports that Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces continue to be mistreated. In 2021, the majority of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces report being physically abused. Half also report being threatened, usually during the course of their interrogation. Reported threats include: long-term detention; threats of violence; death threats; cancellation of family work permits; arrest of other family members, such as mothers or sisters; tasering, placed in solitary confinement and threats to demolish the family home. In 2021, 50% of all Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces were strip searched. Most children are strip searched on arrival at an Israeli Prison Service facility. In some cases, children also report being strip searched earlier on at a military base or police station in the West Bank. In some cases strip searches are conducted in the presence of a group of soldiers and generally minors report feeling humiliated by the experience.

In 2021, no Palestinian children arrested by Israeli forces were informed of their right to silence. Additionally, 80% report being shown, or made to sign, documentation written in Hebrew at the conclusion of their interrogation. MCW reports that some children refuse to sign the documentation, others sign following an oral translation provided by their interrogator, whilst others sign with no understanding whatsoever.

Night-time military raids on family homes in the West Bank continue

Hundreds of times a year, Israeli troops invade Palestinian homes in the West Bank in the middle of the night, according to Israeli human rights organisation Hamoked. So far in 2021, 40% of children arrested by Israeli forces were arrested during the night, according to Military Court Watch. MCW’s annual report, reports that night arrest operations tend to intimidate targeted communities and children report being “shocked” or “terrified” when confronted with heavily armed soldiers in their homes or bedrooms. This sense of fear only increases in cases where the front door is broken in or blown open using explosives. In some cases houses are searched and property damaged.

In addition to the arrest of children from their family homes at night, children living in the West Bank are also impacted by military raids on their homes during which they are not arrested. B’Tselem reports that military incursions into Palestinians’ homes in the dead of night, in which soldiers wake entire families, including small children and infants, have long since become part of the routine of living under occupation. Israeli soldiers enter bedrooms, rummage through the inhabitants’ private belongings, at times beating some of them, and leave the entire household stunned and terrified. This harmful invasion into what is supposed to be a personal, safe space is traumatic for children. For more information on the mental health impact of military home invasions, please see the joint report ‘A Life Exposed: Military invasions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank ’ by Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Breaking the Silence.

[PDF version is available here]

Below are the names and ages of the 76 children killed during the reporting period, 67 of them in Gaza. Six children died in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem. Three children (two Palestinian-Israeli children and one Israeli child) died in Israel. The names and ages of these children are collated from the New York Times (NYT) Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) and Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights.

Of the abovementioned children, UN OCHA reports that at least 62 appear to have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza during the period 10-21 May 2021. This number includes many children killed inside their homes. Examples of incidents in which children were killed by Israeli attacks on their homes include:

• DCIP reports that two-year-old Mariam Mohammad Odeh Talbani was killed after a missile fired by an Israeli warplane struck the third floor of the Salha residential building in Gaza City’s Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood around 01:30 on 12 May. The attack also killed Mariam’s four-year-old brother, Zaid Mohammad Odeh Talbani and her mother, Rima, who was five months pregnant. 13-year-old Hala Hussein Rafat Rifi was also killed in the attack.

• DCIP reports that two-year-old Nagham Iyad Abdulfattah Salha and her parents were killed when an aerial attack by Israel’s forces struck the second-floor apartment where they lived on 19 May. Nagham’s father, Iyad, was disabled and required a wheelchair, and her mother, Imhawish, was eight months pregnant.

• DCIP reports that two children died after an Israel’s forces fired two missiles at a two-storey home in Gaza City’s Al-Manara neighbourhood around, completely destroying the residential building on 11 May. 15-year-old Lina Iyad Fathi Sharir and her parents died in the attack. Two-year-old Mina Iyad Fathi Sharir later died of her wounds.

At least two children in Gaza appear to have been killed when rockets fired towards Israel by a Palestinian armed group landed short. DCIP’s initial investigation suggests a homemade rocket landed in Saleh Dardouna Street near Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia, North Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 16-year-old Mustafa Mohammad Mahmoud Obaid and five-year-old Baraa Wisam Ahmad al-Gharabli on 10 May.

Rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups killed two children in Israel. The fatalities: 5-year-old Israeli child Ido Avigal and 16-year-old Palestinian-Israeli child Nadine Awad.

Six Palestinian children were killed by Israel’s forces forces in the West Bank during the reporting period, five of them shot by live ammunition. Incidents include:

• DCIP reports that Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Said Yousef Mohammad Odeh on 5 May. Said was shot with live ammunition in the back near his shoulder and pelvis, as he approached the entrance to his village. Israeli forces reportedly confronted Palestinian youth at the village entrance prior to the shooting. Said was not involved in the confrontations at the time he was shot.

• DCIP reports that 14-year-old Mohammad Khalil Younis Mohammad Freijat succumbed to his wounds days after Israeli forces shot him in the head with live ammunition in the southern occupied West Bank on 12 May.

• DCIP reports that 16-year-old Rashid Mohammad Rashid Abu Arra was shot dead by Israeli forces with live ammunition on 12 May in the village of Aqaba. He was shot from behind; sustaining two gunshot wounds to the upper and middle back. The killing occurred as Israeli forces entered the village during the early morning to conduct search and arrest operations. Rashid and a few others reportedly threw stones at the back of the military vehicles. Israeli forces in one vehicle began driving in reverse. Israeli forces opened the vehicle’s rear door and fired three live bullets at the group as Rashid and the others turned and attempted to flee.

• DCIP reports that 17-year-old Obaida Akram Abdurahman Jawabra was shot dead by Israeli forces with live ammunition on 17 May in Al-Arroub refugee camp (near Hebron). Obaida sustained a gunshot wound to his chest during a demonstration at the entrance of the refugee camp. An Israeli soldier deployed about 230 feet away fired the fatal shot, according to eyewitnesses interviewed by DCIP.

• DCIP reports that 16-year-old Islam Wael Fahmi Dar Nasser was struck in the head with Israeli-fired live ammunition in the village of Bil’in on 18 May. He was shot during a demonstration as Israeli forces confronted Palestinian protestors in the village near Israel’s separation barrier.

• DCIP reports that on 24 May, 17-year-old Zuhdi Muhannad Zuhdi al-Tawil was shot and killed by Israeli an Israeli police officer. Zuhdi allegedly stabbed an Israeli settler and an Israeli soldier in East Jerusalem. He was reportedly shot while running away from Israeli forces.

Additionally, unconfirmed media reports indicate that Muhammad Youssuf Kiwan, a Palestinian-Israeli 17-year-old, died on 19 May after being shot in the head by Israeli police.

The deaths of the above-named children, including multiple children from the same households in Gaza, occurred in the context of ongoing violence which is not new: thousands of Palestinian children have died as a result of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Children face the threat of death and injury every day that Israel’s military occupation continues.

Article 6(1) of the UNCRC provides that every child has the inherent right to life. In addition, under international law, lethal application of force can only be used as a last resort when there is a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury. Israeli forces consistently apply lethal application of force where there is no evidence to suggest any direct and imminent threat to life. Violations of this legal requirement should entail individual criminal responsibility.

It is especially concerning that targeted military attacks against family homes resulting in civilian casualties have resumed, given the clear evidence of severe harm to civilians that attacks on homes cause. Widespread military attacks on family homes was a key feature of Israel’s use of force on Gaza in 2014, during which 1,066 people, including 370 children, were killed inside their homes. The subsequent UN Commission of Inquiry fully examined the military targeting of family homes by Israel’s forces, and found that serious violations of international humanitarian law and international criminal law may have been committed; including by “decision-makers at the highest level of the Government of Israel”. It conformed with LPHR’s thorough analysis that there is a very credible case that the widespread targeting of family homes in Gaza may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Part of providing meaningful protection under the UNCRC involves review of and accountability for child deaths. To fulfil its obligations under international law, it is necessary that the Government of Israel thoroughly and transparently investigate the circumstances of the above-mentioned child fatalities and ensure legal accountability and justice is delivered where there is criminal wrongdoing.

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The key incidents and statistics outlined in the remainder of this bulletin span a range of violation categories: ‘Injuries’, ‘Settler Violence’, ‘Arrests and Detention’, ‘Interference against Education’, ‘Displacement and Demolitions’. They are collated from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and local human rights organisations: Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Military Court Watch and B’Tselem.

This bulletin outlines the specific rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that apply to the key incidents affecting Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). As the occupying power, Israel has legal responsibilities under international conventions, including the UNCRC, for the safety, welfare and human rights protection of civilians living in the oPt.

LPHR gives special thanks to Elena Christaki-Hedrick of LPHR’s Student Network for her excellent work preparing this bulletin.

INJURIES

UN OCHA records that more than 600 children were injured in Gaza. In the West Bank, at least 164 Palestinian children were injured (at least 152 of them by Israeli forces) during the period 1 March – 31 May 2021 according to data collected by UN OCHA.

Injury incidents from the period 1 March – 31 May 2021:

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 2 March – 15 March 2021, 62 Palestinians, including nine children, were injured by Israeli forces during clashes across the West Bank. Overall, 35 Palestinians were treated for tear gas inhalation, nine were shot by live bullets, 12 by rubber bullets, and six were physically assaulted.

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 30 March – 12 April, two boys aged 13 were injured in two separate incidents in Hebron city. One boy lost an eye from a rubber bullet during clashes, in which he was not involved.

• B’Tselem reports that on 2 April, an Israeli border police officer pepper sprayed a 13-year-old in the face and eyes, without any apparent justification. The boy had reportedly been requesting assistance from the police officer at the time of the act of violence. B’Tselem reports that this incident is part of a routine in which Palestinians in the West Bank suffer daily violence by Israeli security forces, including physical assaults, threats, verbal abuse and humiliation.

• Al Mezan reports that in Gaza on 10 May at 18:10, a shell hit a house on Al-Masriyeen Street in the east of Beit Hanoun City, injured 18 people, including 10 children.

• Al Mezan reports that at 01:30 on 13 May in Gaza, Israel’s air forces fired 20 missiles at eight residential buildings, home to 15 families, on the main street in the middle of Beit Lahia City, injuring 33 people, including eight women and 10 children.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states shall ensure children the protection and care necessary for their wellbeing. Article 3(2) should be read with Article 3(1), which provides that “in taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures States Parties must place the best interests of the child as a primary consideration”. LPHR is deeply concerned by the hundreds of injuries sustained by children during Israel’s attacks on Gaza. It is clear that Israel is in breach of Article 3(2).

SETTLER VIOLENCE

Data collected by UN OCHA records that at least 7 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli settlers during the reporting period.

Settler-related injury incidents between 1 March – 31 May include:

• UN OCHA reports that in the period 2 March – 15 March, two boys aged 13 and 14 were injured in Hebron by perpetrators believed to be Israeli settlers.

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 30 March-12 April, perpetrators known or believed to be Israeli settlers injured seven Palestinians, including two boys, and damaged Palestinian-owned trees. The boys were physically assaulted in two separate incidents in the H2 area of Hebron.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states should ensure the protection and care of children, as is necessary for their wellbeing. The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din reports that incidents of violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians and their property are a daily occurrence throughout the West Bank and that these incidents are rarely investigated properly by Israeli law enforcement. Only 3% of investigations into complaints filed by Palestinians injured by settlers lead to convictions.

The low rate of investigations into attacks by Israeli settlers suggests that Israel is in violation of its obligations under Article 39 of the UNCRC, which stipulates that states should take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery of a child victim of abuse, and that such recovery should take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child. As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to protect Palestinian civilians from all acts or threats of violence, including by Israeli settlers, and to ensure that attacks are investigated effectively and perpetrators held accountable.

ARRESTS AND DETENTION

Between 1 March – 31 May, UN OCHA reports that Israeli forces conducted more than 541 search and arrest operations arresting more than 497 Palestinians (including 20 children) in the West Bank. In addition, children who are Palestinian citizens of Israel were reportedly targeted for arrest.

As of 31 March 2021 (latest figures available) Military Court Watch documents 168 Palestinian children (12 – 17 years old) in Israeli military detention facilities.

• UN OCHA reports that in the period 2-15 March Israeli forces carried out 193 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 172 Palestinians, including 15 children, across the West Bank. The Ramallah governorate recorded the highest number of operations (48), followed by the Hebron (37) and Jerusalem governorates (35).

• UN OCHA reports that in the period 16-29 March, Israeli forces carried out 128 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 115 Palestinians, including five children, across the West Bank. The Ramallah governorate recorded the highest number of operations (27), followed by Tulkarm (21) and Hebron (18). In one operation in Beit Kahil (Hebron), 21 Palestinians were arrested.

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 13-26 April, there were daily clashes between Israeli forces, who shot tear gas canisters, sound grenades and rubber bullets, and Palestinians, who threw stones and bottles. Violence was particularly intense on 22 April, after Israeli civilians marched to Damascus Gate of the Old City, chanting anti-Arab slogans and clashed with Palestinians before both groups were dispersed by Israeli forces. Scattered attacks by Palestinians and by Israeli civilians included physical assault, stone-throwing and setting cars on fire. In Jerusalem, 208 Palestinians, including seven children, were arrested, including for reported attacks on Israelis.

• On 23 May, Israeli media outlets publicised that Israeli authorities had initiated an operation dubbed as ‘Law and Order’ with the intention to arrest some 500 people within two days in order to ‘even the score’ with Palestinian citizens of Israel. The operation was announced following widespread protests by Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem against the imminent forcible displacement of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, militarised repression at Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and the 11-day military bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities stated on 23 May that they had already detained over 1,550 Palestinian citizens of Israel since 9 May, including a reported large number of children.

Article 3(1) of the UNCRC obliges states to ensure that: ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’. Further, Article 37(b) of the UNCRC states that no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and that it shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. The high number of search and arrest operations in Palestinian villages and towns across the West Bank and resulting child arrests, along with the high number of Palestinian-Israelis including children targeted for arrest, strongly indicate that Israel is in breach of its obligations under Articles 3(1) and 37(b).

INTERFERENCE AGAINST EDUCATION

According to UN OCHA, local authorities report that 141 government schools suffered some degree of damage during the 10-21 May hostilities in Gaza. UN OCHA reports that many schools, three kindergartens, one UNRWA vocational education centre, two Ministry of Education directorate buildings and the premises of the Islamic University were damaged due to the hostilities, with reports indicating that a number were directly hit by airstrikes or tank shells. Almost 600,000 students have had suffered a significant learning loss, in addition to the psychosocial consequences.

Article 28 of the UNCRC stipulates that education should be accessible to all children on the basis of equal opportunity, obliging Israel to ensure that children in the oPt have unrestricted access to education.

DEMOLITIONS & DISPLACEMENT

UN OCHA reports that an estimated 15,130 housing units sustained some degree of damage in Gaza, as did multiple water and sanitation facilities and infrastructure and 33 health facilities. 1,042 housing and commercial units were destroyed. In addition, 769 housing units were severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable. At the height of the violence, there were 113,000 internally displaced people seeking shelter. Thousands remain displaced as of 10 June. Demolitions and displacement in the West Bank remain a matter of huge concern. Data collected by UN OCHA records that 103 people, including 55 children (21 girls and 34 boys) have been displaced by the demolition of 94 structures in the West Bank during the reporting period.

Article 27 of the UNCRC protects children’s right to a standard of living and seeks to ensure that this standard is adequate with respect to the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The UNCRC further adds that State Parties are responsible for taking appropriate measures to provide assistance in respect to nutrition, clothing and housing. The actions of the Government of Israel in rendering children and their parents homeless and disrupting families’ livelihoods through demolitions of homes clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the UNCRC.

Article 18(2) of the UNCRC obliges State Parties to give appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities. Demolitions and subsequent forced displacement violate this right as it harms parents and legal guardians’ ability to fulfil their responsibilities of looking after and providing shelter for their children.

Article 16(1) of the UNCRC protects children’s rights to not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family and home and Article 16(2) entitles children to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Demolitions affect this right as it physically displaces children from their family homes without first giving them access to a legal system through which they could challenge such actions.

Further Reading

Attacks on family homes in Gaza

Hundreds of residential units were destroyed and thousands more damaged in Israeli attacks on Gaza between 10-21 May 2021. At least 104 people, including 32 children, were killed while inside residential buildings in Gaza. Please see LPHR’s urgent action letter to the Foreign Secretary Dominica Raab of 26 May, which requests that the UK government calls for legal accountability for the widespread targeted attacks on homes in Gaza during the most recent hostilities.

Permission to travel for medical treatment denied to children in Gaza

B’Tselem reports that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel has tightened restrictions on travel for medical treatment, drastically decreasing the number of people allowed to travel from Gaza to the West Bank or Israel for medical treatment. Child cancer patients in need of urgent medical treatment have been denied permission to travel or have had their applications kept under review for prolonged periods. The implications of this for children who urgently need access to medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip, including those struggling with life-threatening illnesses and those injured in the recent attacks on Gaza, are dire.

Testimony from the mother of 15-year-old M.H from Rafah, tells of how despite her daughter having a cancerous tumour in her leg, Israel has repeatedly rejected her application to travel to Ramallah for surgery. M.H’s mother told B’Tselem that their request to urgently travel to al-Istishari hospital on the 11th January 2021 for tests was denied by Israeli authorities. A new appointment was set for the 22nd of February but as of the 7th March 2021, permission has not been granted.

Al Mezan reports that despite the hundreds of children injured during the recent violence in Gaza, only 17 people were allowed to leave Gaza for medical treatment between 24-31 May 2021, after the ceasefire.

[PDF version is available here]

Key incidents outlined in this LPHR Child Rights Bulletin covering 1 January – 28 February 2021:

• A 17-year-old Palestinian boy, Attallah Mohammad Harb Rayan, was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier in what Israeli sources allege was an attempted stabbing.

• An Israeli interrogator allegedly violently sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy in Israeli custody during interrogation at a Jerusalem detention facility.

• A 17-year-old Palestinian boy with a rare autoimmune disease remains in military detention without charge.

• Israeli forces targeted the community of Khirbet Humsah al-Foqa five times during the reporting period for demolitions and confiscation, repeatedly displacing dozens of children.

The key incidents and statistics outlined in this bulletin span a range of violation categories: ‘Fatalities’, ‘Injuries’, ‘Settler Violence’, ‘Arrests and Detention’, ‘Interference against Education’, ‘Displacement and Demolitions’. They are collated from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and local human rights organisations: Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Yesh Din, Military Court Watch, B’Tselem and Addameer.

This bulletin outlines the specific rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that apply to the key incidents affecting Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). As the occupying power, Israel has legal responsibilities under international conventions, including the UNCRC, for the safety, welfare and human rights protection of civilians living in the oPt. This bulletin concludes with a Further Reading section.

LPHR gives special thanks to Elena Christaki-Hedrick, Jagna Olejniczak and Georgia Guirguis for their excellent work preparing this bulletin.

FATALITIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that one Palestinian child was killed by Israeli forces during the reporting period of 1 January – 28 February 2021.

• UN OCHA reports that on 26 January, a 17–year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed after he, according to Israeli sources, tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the Israeli settlement of Ariel (in Salfit, in the central West Bank). Palestinian media maintains it was not a stabbing attempt, while Israeli media outlets indicate that the soldier had to be treated for light injuries. DCIP reports that the boy was Attallah Mohammad Harb Rayan.

Article 6(1) of the UNCRC provides that every child has the inherent right to life. Under international law, lethal application of force can only be used as a last resort when there is a direct and imminent threat to life or serious injury. Violations of this legal requirement resulting in an unlawful extrajudicial killing should entail individual criminal responsibility. The circumstances of the above-mentioned shooting of the child are unclear and require investigation. Indeed, part of providing meaningful protection under the UNCRC involves review of and accountability for child deaths. To fulfil its obligations under international law, it is necessary that the Government of Israel thoroughly and transparently investigate the circumstances of the above-mentioned child fatality and ensure legal accountability and justice is delivered where there is criminal wrongdoing. However, there is strong evidence indicating that Israel is failing to provide accountability for child deaths, with data collected by B’Tselem and Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din suggesting that soldiers who harm or kill Palestinians or damage their property are very rarely indicted.

INJURIES

Data collected by UN OCHA records that 24 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli forces during the reporting period. These injuries were caused by tear gas inhalation, rubber bullets, live ammunition and physical assault. In addition, 19 children were injured by an explosion in a house in Gaza and one child was injured by unexploded ordnance in the West Bank. Three Israeli children were injured during the reporting period in incidents of stone throwing at vehicles.

Injury incidents from 1 January – 28 February 2021 include:

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 5 – 18 January, 79 people, including 14 children, were injured across the West Bank in clashes with Israeli forces. The majority of injuries were sustained during protests against the establishment of two Israeli settlement outposts near Al Mughayyir and Deir Jarir villages (Ramallah).

• DCIP reports that on 13 January, an Israeli interrogator allegedly physically and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy in Israeli custody during interrogation at a Jerusalem detention facility. Additional information is reported below in the Arrests and Detention section.

• UN OCHA reports that in January, a 17-year-old boy sustained critical injuries in the Hebron governorate when unexploded ordnance he was handling exploded. The incident took place while the boy was herding his livestock near Mirkez, in an area that the Israeli authorities designated for military training.

• UN OCHA reports that on 23 January, 19 children were injured as a result of an explosion in a house in Beit Hanoun town in Gaza. The house reportedly belonged to a member of a Palestinian armed group and was being used to store explosives.

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 16 – 28 February, a 16-year-old boy was shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition, reportedly while walking near the barrier in Saffa village (Ramallah).

• UN OCHA reports that during the period 16 – 28 February, a child was physically assaulted by Israeli forces in Jericho.

• UN OCHA reports that during the reporting period, three Israeli children were injured were injured by perpetrators believed to be Palestinians in incidents involving stone throwing at Israeli-plated vehicles travelling on West Bank roads.

• Additional injuries are reported below in the Settler Violence section.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states shall ensure children the protection and care necessary for their well-being. The reported shooting of child in Saffa and the assault of a child in Jericho, prima facie violates both the letter and the spirit of Article 3(2).

Article 3(2) should be read with Article 3(1), which provides that “in taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures States Parties must place the best interests of the child as a primary consideration”. Even assuming that the use of the force by the police during the above-mentioned protests against settlements was an ‘appropriate measure’, it failed to recognise the potential presence of children and apply sufficient protection. The same applies to the explosion in a house in Beit Hanoun. Palestinian armed groups must take measures to protect civilians including not storing explosive weapons in densely populated civilian areas. The Palestinian armed group’s failure to protect children constitutes an apparent grave violation of Article 3(2) of the UNCRC.

Equally, the lack of safety measures in place with regard to protecting children from unexploded ordnance in an area whether shepherds herd livestock in the West Bank suggests a level of neglect that amounts to a State violation under Article 3(1) and Article 3(2) of the UNCRC.

SETTLER VIOLENCE

Data collected by UN OCHA records that five Palestinian children were injured by Israeli settlers during the reporting period.

Settler-related injury incidents between 1 January – 28 February include:

• Data collected by UN OCHA records that on 2 January, a boy was physically assaulted by one or more Israeli settlers in Silwan, East Jerusalem.

• UN OCHA reports that in the period 5 – 18 January, an 11-year-old girl was stoned and injured near her house in Nablus by perpetrators known or believed to be Israeli settlers.

• B’Tselem reports that a five-year-old Palestinian child was injured by settlers throwing stones on the Givat Assaf intersection on 21 January 2021.

• UN OCHA reports that in the period 2 – 15 February, a 13-year-old boy was physically assaulted in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron city (H2) by perpetrators known or believed to be Israeli settlers.

• UN OCHA reports that in the period 16 – 28 February, perpetrators known or believed to be Israeli settlers injured a 17-year-old Palestinian boy. The boy was stoned and injured in Sheikh Jarrah (East Jerusalem), reportedly by Israelis gathering to celebrate Purim.

Article 3(2) of the UNCRC provides that states should ensure the protection and care of children, as is necessary for their wellbeing. The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din reports that incidents of violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians and their property are a daily occurrence throughout the West Bank and that these incidents are rarely investigated properly by Israeli law enforcement. Only 3% of investigations into complaints filed by Palestinians injured by settlers lead to convictions.

The low rate of investigations into attacks by Israeli settlers suggests that Israel is in violation of its obligations under Article 39 of the UNCRC, which stipulates that states should take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery of a child victim of abuse, and that such recovery should take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child. As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to protect Palestinian civilians from all acts or threats of violence, including by Israeli settlers, and to ensure that attacks are investigated effectively and perpetrators held accountable.

LPHR’s recent blog on an upsurge of settler violence can be read here.

ARRESTS AND DETENTION

Between 1 January 2021- 1 March 2021, UN OCHA reports that Israeli forces conducted 690 search and arrest operations in the West Bank, arresting 664 Palestinians (including an unknown number of children).

As of 30 September 2020 (latest Israeli Prison Service figures available) Military Court Watch documents 157 Palestinian children (12 – 17 years old) in Israeli military detention facilities. DCIP reports that three of these children are held under administrative detention, meaning they are being detained without charge or trial based on secret evidence. Of the 157 detained children, 115 are held in prisons inside Israel. It is a grave breach of international humanitarian law to transfer detainees outside of occupied territory.

Arrest and detention incidents in the reporting period include:

• DCIP reports that on 13 January, an Israeli interrogator allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy in Israeli custody during interrogation at a Jerusalem detention facility. The 15-year-old boy was detained by Israeli paramilitary border police forces from his home in East Jerusalem around 05:00 on 13 January 2021. Israeli forces transferred him to Al-Mascobiyya interrogation and detention center in West Jerusalem where he was bound, blindfolded and detained in an interrogation room. An individual accused the boy of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and then allegedly subjected him to physical and sexual violence amounting to torture, according to documentation collected by DCIP. The boy was released on 17 January pending another court session at a later date. Please see our Further Reading section below for more information about this incident.

• DCIP reports that on 25 January, Israeli authorities issued a six-month administrative detention order against a 17-year-old Palestinian boy with a rare autoimmune disease, extending his detention without charge, despite the boy’s reported need for constant medical supervision. The 17-year-old was arrested in the middle of the night from his home on 21 January. The boy is detained at Israel’s Megiddo prison, located inside Israel. The boy suffers from myasthenia gravis, a rare chronic autoimmune, neuromuscular disease that causes muscle weakness, including in the muscles used for breathing and swallowing. His treatment requires ongoing medical treatment and that he takes medication regularly and without interruption. Please see our Further Reading section below for more information about the use of administrative detention against Palestinian children.

• DCIP reports that Israeli forces detained an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old in late February, as they played in the front of their house in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces approached the brothers, at around 16:30 on 21 February, while they were riding bicycles near their home in Hizma, a town northeast of Jerusalem. Israeli forces detained the boys until 22:30, during which time one of the boys was hit with the stock of a rifle and both were verbally abused. Both boys hand their hands tied behind their backs and were denied drinking water and access to a bathroom. A family member who tried to intervene was reportedly beaten by Israeli soldiers.

Article 3(1) of the UNCRC obliges states to ensure that: ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’. Further, Article 37(b) of the UNCRC states that no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and that it shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. The above-mentioned arbitrary detention of children below the age of criminal responsibility and the continuation of incidents where children are detained, interrogated and allegedly violently assaulted before being released, suggests that both Article 3(1) and Article 37(b) are being breached.

The ongoing administrative detention of a 17-year-old with a rare autoimmune disease also constitutes an apparent serious violation of Articles 3(1) and 37(b) of the UNCRC. As DCIP reports, the child is at increased risk of worse outcomes if infected by COVID-19. In addition, it is unclear whether the child is receiving the medical care he needs and in particular, whether he is given access to regular medication that is required to control his autoimmune disease. Under Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is illegal for the occupying power to imprison detainees inside Israel. Israel’s detention of the boy inside Israel, appears a clear breach of Article 76.

INTERFERENCE AGAINST EDUCATION

Infringements on education in the reporting period of 1 January- 28 February include:

• UN OCHA reports that three schools were damaged as a result of the explosion in a house in Beit Hanoun town in Gaza, mentioned above in the Injuries Section.

Article 28 of the UNCRC stipulates that education should be accessible to all children on the basis of equal opportunity, obliging Israel to ensure that children in the oPt have unrestricted access to education.

DEMOLITIONS & DISPLACEMENT

Demolitions and displacement remain a matter of huge concern. Data collected by UN OCHA records that 374 people, including 204 children (92 girls and 112 boys) have been displaced by the demolition of 231 structures during the reporting period.

Incidents of demolitions and displacement during the reporting period include:

• B’Tselem reports that on 4 January, Israeli forces demolished a concrete home that was home to a family of seven, including five children, in the community of Khallet Taha (near the town of Deir Samit, east of Hebron).

• B’Tselem reports that on 24 January, Israeli forces delivered a demolition order for two pre-fabs owned by two families numbering 10 people in total, including six children, in the community of Khirbet Yarza in the northern Jordan Valley.

• B’Tselem reports that on 24 January, Israeli forces delivered stop work orders for a tent used by a family of four, including two children, as a residence, and three more of the family’s tents, one used as a kitchen and the other two as livestock enclosures, in the community of ‘Ein al-Meyteh.

• B’Tselem reports that on 26 January Khirbet al-Malih, where they dismantled and confiscated a tent that was the bedroom of five minors from a family of 15 people, and another shack the family used as a livestock enclosure and animal feed storeroom.

• B’Tselem reports that on 28 January, Israeli forces dismantled and confiscated three tents that were home to two families of 13 in total, including five children, in the community of Wadi al-Ahmar in the northern Jordan Valley. They also dismantled and confiscated 12 feeding and watering troughs, shade sails and five tents used as livestock enclosures, and demolished the fences of livestock pens. Some of the tents were donated to the two families by humanitarian aid organizations after residential and livestock tents were demolished on 2 July 2020. A JCB 3CX heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used at the demolition scene.

• B’Tselem reports that on 1 February, Israeli forces confiscated most of the residential structures and livestock pens in the community of Khirbet Humsah, after the community had been demolished on 3 November 2020. Thirteen tents that were home to 11 families, numbering 74 members, including 41 minors, were demolished and confiscated. Also five shacks, one not yet built, and eight tents, all used for livestock, were demolished and confiscated. According to community residents, Civil Administration personnel arrived in the morning, before the confiscation began, and ordered them to relocate to the area of ‘Ein Shibli, west of the al-Hamrah Checkpoint. The forces then dismantled their tents and possessions and transferred them to the checkpoint, notifying the residents that they could get them back if they undertook to relocate to the designated site. After the residents refused to comply, the equipment was confiscated and put in Civil Administration storage. According to B’Tselem, to cover up the attempted forcible transfer, military spokesmen tried to create the impression that the residents had “voluntarily agreed” to leave the area after “dialogue.”

• Two days later in Khirbet Humsa, B’Tselem reports that seven residential tents that served nine families, numbering 61 people, including 33 minors, five tents and two shacks that served as livestock enclosures, and three livestock pens. The forces also confiscated four portable toilets, three dismantled tents, and demolished two portable toilets and two tents that served as Tabun ovens.

• B’Tselem reports that on 8 February, Israeli forces demolished two donor funded prefabs that served as the home of two families numbering 11 people, including seven minors, in the community of Khirbet Yarza, in the northern Jordan Valley. The homes of these families were previously demolished in September 2020. A JCB 3CX heavy machinery vehicle is shown on video to be materially used at the demolition scene.

• B’Tselem reports that on 10 February Israeli forces confiscated a tent that was home to a family of six, including four minors, in Khirbet Susiya.

• B’Tselem reports that on 22 February, Israeli forces dismantled and confiscated 12 tents that housed 74 people, including 41 children, in Khirbet Humsah al-Foqa, in the northern Jordan Valley. The forces also confiscated four water tank trailers and an additional four plastic water tanks. This was the fifth time Israeli forces had targeted the community for attempted forcible transfer during the reporting period and since the community’s demolition on 3 November 2020. On 16 February, whilst diplomats from France, the UK and Poland visited with equipment donated by the West Bank Protection Consortium, Israeli forces confiscated tents. On 8 February, Israeli forces dismantled nine tents serving as the homes of 61 people, including 33 children. The tents had been donated to the community by the Red Cross. On 3 February, Israeli forces demolished seven residential tents that served nine families, displacing 33 children. On 1 February, Israeli forces confiscated most of the residential structures and livestock pens in the community of Khirbet Humsah.

Article 27 of the UNCRC protects children’s right to a standard of living and seeks to ensure that this standard is adequate with respect to the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. The UNCRC further adds that State Parties are responsible for taking appropriate measures to provide assistance in respect to nutrition, clothing and housing. The actions of the Government of Israel in rendering children and their parents homeless and disrupting families’ livelihoods through demolitions of homes clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the UNCRC.

Article 18(2) of the UNCRC obliges State Parties to give appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities. Demolitions and subsequent forced displacement violate this right as it harms parents and legal guardians’ ability to fulfil their responsibilities of looking after and providing shelter for their children.

Article 16(1) of the UNCRC protects children’s rights to not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family and home and Article 16(2) entitles children to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Demolitions affect this right as it physically displaces children from their family homes without first giving them access to a legal system through which they could challenge such actions.

Further Reading

Child reports being subjected to violent sexual abuse in Israeli detention

LPHR is particularly alarmed by DCIP’s report that a 15-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by an Israeli interrogator while in custody. DCIP reports that the boy was detained by Israeli paramilitary border police forces from his home at around 00:05 on 13 January in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya. He was then transferred to an interrogation and detention centre in West Jerusalem where he was bound and blindfolded. DCIP reports that “An individual accused him of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and then allegedly subjected the boy to physical and sexual violence amounting to torture.”

Upon arrival at Al-Mascobiyya interrogation and detention center, in West Jerusalem, the boy was forced to sit in a hallway bound and blindfolded where he was subject to physical violence by those passing by, according to documentation collected by DCIP. The boy reports:

“Every two to three minutes, someone would come by and slap, push, punch, or kick me.”

The boy was eventually brought into an interrogation room, where he was kicked, punched and shouted at. The boy reports:

“Whenever I told him I did not do anything, he would beat me harder. He threatened to shock me with electricity, but I told him I did not do anything.”

The boy alleges that he was knocked to the floor while blindfolded and raped him with an object. His interrogator threatened that the sexual violence would continue unless he confessed to the allegations against him. The boy was then made to stand against a wall, where the individual inflicted extreme pain on his genitals. The boy was threatened again, before being transferred to another room where he met with a lawyer for about five minutes. Then, he was taken to a room where a man in civilian clothing introduced himself as an Israeli interrogator. The boy was interrogated for almost four hours, during which he experienced verbal abuse and was forced to sign papers written in Hebrew, the contents of which he did not understand.

The alleged serious sexual abuse of the child by an Israeli interrogator must be properly investigated by Israeli authorities in accordance with domestic and international legal obligations, and the alleged perpetrator must be brought to justice if the boy’s report is substantiated.

The arbitrary detention of children under the age of criminal responsibility

As mentioned above and reported by DCIP, two children under the age of twelve, the age of criminal responsibility, were detained by Israeli forces during the reporting period. That the children were released hours after being detained suggests that their detention was arbitrary. Young Palestinian children are routinely detained by Israeli forces in an arbitrary manner in violation of both Israeli law and international law, reports DCIP.

The eight and ten-year-old detained in the above-mentioned incident report being frightened during the detention and traumatised afterwards. DCIP reports that the tactic of detaining young children is meant to intimidate and control Palestinian populations living under Israeli military occupation. A further incident of Israeli forces arresting young children in March 2021 can be seen in a video, published by B’Tselem, which appears to document the arrest of five young children reportedly arrested while picking vegetables.

Children held under administrative detention

DCIP reports that Palestinian children held under administrative detention orders are not presented with charges, and their detention is based on secret evidence that is not disclosed to the child or their lawyer, preventing them from preparing a legal challenge to the detention and its alleged basis. Military court judges, who are active duty or reserve officers in the Israeli army, have the authority to approve administrative detention orders lasting up to six months. There is no limit to the number of times an administrative detention order can be renewed. As a result, children held in administrative detention face the added uncertainty of indefinite imprisonment, in addition to the ordinary struggles child prisoners face.

Between 2012-2014, Israeli authorities briefly suspended the practice of detaining Palestinian children under administrative detention orders. However, since October 2015, DCIP has documented a total of 37 Palestinian children held by Israeli authorities pursuant to administrative detention orders. An average of two Palestinian children are held under administrative detention orders each month, according to Israel Prison Service (IPS) data. In addition to the child with a rare autoimmune disease, two other 17-year-old Palestinian boys are currently detained by Israeli authorities under administrative detention orders, according to information collected by DCIP.