Israeli Troops Kill 11-Year-Old in West Bank Amid Rising Child Casualties

An 11-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammad Hallaq, was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank town of Al-Rihiya on October 16, 2025, according to his family and Palestinian health officials, intensifying scrutiny over the rising toll on Palestinian children amid escalating violence. The boy, struck by a bullet to the pelvis around 5:00 p.m. local time, was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries, marking the latest in a string of lethal incidents targeting suspected rock-throwers. The Israeli military confirmed troops fired on individuals hurling stones during a patrol, stating "hits were identified," though it did not specify the boy's involvement, highlighting the opaque language often employed in such reports.

Eyewitness accounts from Hallaq's uncle, also named Mohammad Hallaq, painted a harrowing picture: the child was innocently seated in front of his home when an army patrol clashed with a group of older youths nearby. "The soldiers fired directly at the older boys, and he was killed," the uncle recounted to AFP, stressing that Mohammad was positioned away from the confrontation. Ayed Abu Eqtaish of Defence for Children International Palestine corroborated the timeline, noting the shooting occurred during routine military operations in the area south of Hebron. This tragedy underscores the perilous reality for Palestinian minors in the West Bank, where the Israeli occupation since 1967 has entrenched checkpoints, settlements, and frequent raids, exacerbating tensions that have spiked since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing Gaza war.

The incident forms part of a disturbing pattern in 2025, with Palestinian health authorities reporting a sharp uptick in children and teenagers killed by Israeli gunfire, often justified as responses to rock-throwing. Notable cases include a U.S.-citizen Palestinian teen shot in April, a 14-year-old in Sinjil in June, and a 15-year-old in July, each time with the military citing stone-hurling threats. Rights groups like Human Rights Watch have condemned these shootings as disproportionate, arguing rocks pose minimal lethal risk compared to live ammunition and calling for independent probes under international humanitarian law. In a separate event on the same day, 20-year-old Mahdi Kamil was killed in Qabatiya, northern West Bank; the army described him as a militant who hurled an explosive device, eliminating him in response—a narrative contested by Palestinian sources as excessive force.

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Since October 2023, violence in the West Bank has claimed at least 986 Palestinian lives, including militants and civilians, per the Palestinian health ministry, while 43 Israelis—soldiers and civilians—have died in attacks or operations, according to Israeli figures. This surge, fuelled by settlement expansions and military incursions, has displaced thousands and drawn UN warnings of apartheid-like conditions. As Hallaq's family mourns amid funeral processions echoing those of past victims, global advocates urge de-escalation and accountability. The European Union and the United States have reiterated calls for restraint, while Israeli officials defend operations as necessary for security. With no immediate ceasefire in sight, these deaths risk further entrenching cycles of grief and retaliation in a territory long emblematic of unresolved Israeli-Palestinian strife.

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