The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed two Palestinian civilians, including a child, in two separate incidents in Hebron and Jenin on Thursday and Friday. These killings are part of a series of unjustified attacks encouraged by the IOF’s lenient shooting regulations.

According to information collected by PCHR’s field researcher regarding the killing of a child in Hebron, at approximately 18:10 on Friday, 17 October 2025, medical sources at Abu al-Hasan al-Qasem Governmental Hospital in Yata announced the death of Mohammed Bahjat Mohammed al-Hallaq (9), a few hours after he was injured by a live bullet fired by Israeli soldiers during their incursion into the village. The bullet penetrated below the right side of his waist, causing entry and exit wounds, leading to internal organ lacerations and severe bleeding that resulted in his death.

According to eyewitness testimonies, at approximately 16:00 on the same Friday, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), backed by two military vehicles, moved into Ar-Rihiya village in southern Hebron and stationed themselves in the vicinity of a girls’ high school located in the village center, where a group of young men and boys were playing football in the schoolyard. Upon the IOF’s arrival, the group fled westward between nearby houses. Four soldiers stepped out of one of the two military vehicles, while the other remained stationed about 50 meters away. The soldiers then fired tear gas canisters and live bullets randomly.

As a result, Mohammed al-Hallaq was injured in the left side of his waist while standing near his grandfather’s house on a pavement overlooking the area where the soldiers were positioned, about 200 meters away. The child walked a few steps before falling to the ground on his right side, while the soldiers fired four additional tear gas canisters that landed near him. While one of the young men attempted to reach the wounded child, the soldiers opened fire twice in his direction before he managed to carry the child and walk about 20 meters to his uncle’s house. From there, the child was transferred in a private vehicle to al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of the village, and then by another vehicle to Abu al-Hasan al-Qasem Governmental Hospital in Yatta. The journey took around 40 minutes. The child arrived at the hospital unconscious, and his heart stopped twice despite attempts to resuscitate him. Medical examination revealed that the bullet had penetrated his body through the right side of his waist and exited the left side, and at approximately 18:10, doctors pronounced him dead.

Late at night, the Israeli authorities announced the opening of an investigation into the circumstances of al-Hallaq’s shooting. In the early morning of Saturday, 18 October 2025, several Israeli military patrols raided Ar-Rihiya village, stationed in the vicinity of the school and the shooting site, and conducted searches while reviewing surveillance camera footage in the area.

In Jenin, according to eyewitness accounts and information collected by PCHR’s field researcher, at approximately 19:30 on Thursday, 16 October 2025, IOF moved into Qabatia village and patrolled its streets. The soldiers deployed in the village center (in the cafés area), where clashes erupted after a group of young men threw stones at them. The IOF responded by opening live fire toward the stone-throwers. As a result, Mahdi Ahmed Mahmoud Kmeil (19) was shot after the IOF had fired around ten bullets at him from a distance of no more than 50 meters while he was trying to flee westward. The young man fell to the ground and remained lying there for about half an hour before the soldiers approached him. A Palestinian ambulance arrived at the scene; however, the IOF denied it access to the injured. After the IOF withdrew, the ambulance managed to reach Kmeil and transferred him to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where medical sources pronounced him dead at around 21:00 the same day, after he had sustained several bullet wounds to the back, waist, and feet.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the unjustified killings committed by the IOF which come as part of a systematic Israeli policy to use lethal force against Palestinian civilians, in blatant violation of the principles of necessity and proportionality, which constitute the cornerstone of international humanitarian law.

Since the beginning of the year, the IOF have killed 196 Palestinians, including 32 children and 5 women, while 12 others were killed in settlers’ attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

PCHR calls on the international community to provide immediate protection for Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and to urgently act to end the IOF’s open-fire policy, which has become a daily practice in their treatment of Palestinians.

PCHR also calls for an end to the policy of impunity that encourages the recurrence of violations and for ensuring accountability of those responsible for these crimes before international justice. PCHR affirms that the ongoing international silence over these crimes constitutes indirect complicity that emboldens the Israeli occupation authorities to commit further crimes against Palestinian civilians.