Children in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict#Israeli

{{multiple image

| align = right

| image1 = Palestinian refugees.jpg

| width1 = 200

| alt1 =

| caption1 =

| image2 = Iraqi jews displaced 1951.jpg

| width2 = 200

| alt2 =

| caption2 =

| footer = Palestinian families fleeing Galilee in late 1948 (left) and displaced Iraqi Jewish children in 1951 (right)

}}

File:Faris_odeh03a.jpg tank in the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada.]]

Youth have been affected by military action since before the creation of Israel. The 1929 Hebron massacreTom Segev, One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate, MacMillan, 2000,[https://books.google.com/books?id=lu_nXv6BCwkC&q=Hebron p 319] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219040951/https://books.google.com/books?id=lu_nXv6BCwkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=One+Palestine+Complete&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JN1oUZqNKYnA0QG17YHoBw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Hebron&f=false |date=19 December 2016 }}, {{ISBN|978-0-349-11286-2}}. claimed the lives of 24 school-aged Yeshiva students and children under 5.Laurens, Henry. La Question de Palestine: Une mission sacrée de civilisation. Fayard, 2002. ISBN 978-2213612515 In 1948, adolescent{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} militants from the Irgun and Lehi terror groups participated in an indiscriminate massacre of no less than 107 Palestinian residents of the village of Deir Yassin including women and children.Hirst, David, The Gun and the Olive Branch. Faber and Faber, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Oisa_1Dc69kC&pg=PA252 pp. 252–253] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219075120/https://books.google.com/books?id=Oisa_1Dc69kC&pg=PA252 |date=19 December 2016 }}, 2003, (first published 1977).Kana'ana and Zeitawi, The Village of Deir Yassin, Destroyed Village Series, Berzeit University Press, 1988. Since the Six-Day War, when the West Bank and the Gaza Strip fell under Israeli military occupation, according to Anton Shammas, the idea of 'childhood' was abolished and dropped from Israeli military declarations, so that if a 10-year-old happened to be shot, he was referred to as 'a young man of ten'.Lisa Hajjar, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vTKTj3Uz7iIC&pg=PA191 Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219035227/https://books.google.com/books?id=vTKTj3Uz7iIC&pg=PA191 |date=19 December 2016 }}, University of California Press, 2005 p.191.

With the outbreak of the First Intifada (1987–1993), stone-throwing was defined as a felony, children began to be arrested with bail set at US$400, and if this was not paid, they could be held in administrative detention for 1 year. The continued Israeli occupation and the stalled Israeli–Palestinian peace process has led to Palestinian protests and political violence, building up to mass protests during the First Intifada. Many youth were involved in nonviolent demonstrations, sit-ins, walk-outs, boycotts, civil disobedience and strikes organized by popular committees.Julie M. Norman, The Activist and the Olive Tree: Nonviolent Resistance in the Second Intifada, The American University, ProQuest, 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZTa2ou9sD4C&dq=children+participate+first+intifada&pg=PA68 p. 69–70] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219083534/https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZTa2ou9sD4C&pg=PA68&dq=children+participate+first+intifada&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Pky9UK-AM4mM0QHXkoG4Aw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=children%20participate%20first%20intifada&f=false |date=19 December 2016 }}, {{ISBN|978-1-109-16669-9}} There also was rioting, grenade throwing, and suicide bombings.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=275879|title=This Week In History: Terror attack on Bus 405|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=July 2012 |access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=13 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213065111/http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=275879|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/hamaspoliticscha00levi|url-access=registration|quote=suicide bombings first civilians israel.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hamaspoliticscha00levi/page/11 11]–12 |title=Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad|author=Matthew Levitt|edition=Illustrated |publisher=Yale University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-300-12258-9}}

J. Kuttab refers to the First Intifada as the "children's revolt" because youth "possessed a new spirit that challenged the occupation" and inspired even adults to action. James L. Gelvin has written that the "paradigmatic symbol" of the First Intifada was "unarmed Palestinian children throwing stones at Israeli tanks."James L. Gelvin, The Israel–Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War, Cambridge University Press, 2007, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5FwAT5fx03IC&dq=Israel+Palestine+conflict+children&pg=PA213 p. 213] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219083314/https://books.google.com/books?id=5FwAT5fx03IC&pg=PA213&dq=Israel+Palestine+conflict+children&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tSjPUJ2EOPSy0AHurYHQAg&ved=0CFYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Israel%20Palestine%20conflict%20children&f=false |date=19 December 2016 }}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-88835-6}} Approximately 90 percent of young males and 80 percent of young females engaged in some form of activism. The much more violent Second Intifada (2000–2005) was led by adults in the Palestine Liberation Organization following the collapse of the 1993 Oslo Accords.{{cite book|author=David Horovitz|title=Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism |url=https://archive.org/details/stilllifewithbom00horo|url-access=registration|access-date=30 March 2013|date=6 February 2006|publisher=Knopf|isbn=978-1-4000-4067-4|pages=288–}}

A 2007 survey showed that 17 percent of the Palestinian population is made up of children under the age of five, and 46 percent under 15.[http://www.haaretz.com/news/poll-10-of-palestinian-children-have-lasting-malnutrition-effects-1.217826 Poll: 10% of Palestinian children have lasting malnutrition effects] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714093647/http://www.haaretz.com/news/poll-10-of-palestinian-children-have-lasting-malnutrition-effects-1.217826 |date=14 July 2017 }}, Associated Press article in Haaretz, 11 April 2007. In 2012, it was estimated that the densely populated Gaza Strip had a population of 1.7 million, over 800,000 of whom are children.Ryan Villarreal, [http://www.ibtimes.com/israels-blockade-gaza-puts-palestinian-childrens-health-risk-report-702821 Israel's Blockade Of Gaza Puts Palestinian Children's Health At Risk: Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229184415/http://www.ibtimes.com/israels-blockade-gaza-puts-palestinian-childrens-health-risk-report-702821 |date=29 December 2017 }}, International Business Times, 14 June 2012.{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}

File:תמר קדם ובני משפחתה.jpg.]]

Rock-throwing and firebomb attacks by Palestinians on Israeli residents have been described as regular occurrences in the West Bank, and in many cases they directly affect children.*Benari, Elad (18 April 2012). [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/154851 Arabs Throw Rocks at Jewish Girls in Hevron] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421025643/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/154851 |date=21 April 2012 }}. Israel National News. Retrieved 27 January 2013.{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2013}}

• Fleishman, Itamar (24 December 2012). [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4324031,00.html Israeli car stoned near Hebron; driver lightly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163437/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4324031,00.html |date=1 February 2016 }}. Ynetnews. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
• Lappin, Yaakov and Yonah, Jeremy Bob (17 January 2013). [http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=299933 Molotov cocktail throwers arrested in West Bank] . The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 27 January 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/457/572.html?hp=1&cat=402&loc=3 |title=עמירה, תראי את אדל שלי נלחמת על חייה |work=Maariv |last=Beiton |first=Adva |access-date=30 April 2013 |archive-date=6 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506140120/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/457/572.html?hp=1&cat=402&loc=3 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/04/04/mother-of-girl-injured-by-stone-throwing-responds-to-haaretz-come-to-the-intensive-care-unit-and-see-my-adele/ |title=Mother of Girl Injured by Stone Throwing Responds to Ha'aretz: "Come to the Intensive Care Unit, and See My Adele" |work=Algemeiner Journal |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=30 April 2013 |archive-date=12 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412004126/http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/04/04/mother-of-girl-injured-by-stone-throwing-responds-to-haaretz-come-to-the-intensive-care-unit-and-see-my-adele/ |url-status=live }} Israelis have recounted incidents in which Palestinians targeted children on school buses,{{cite web |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/05/02/arabs-throw-rocks-at-school-bus-with-jewish-children/ |title=Arabs Throw Rocks at School bus With Jewish Children |work=The Algemeiner |date=2 May 2012 |access-date=29 April 2013 |archive-date=13 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913003704/http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/05/02/arabs-throw-rocks-at-school-bus-with-jewish-children/ |url-status=live }}Ya'ar, Chana (2 May 2012). [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155370 Arab Ambush of Children's Bus in Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518055333/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155370 |date=18 May 2017}}. Israel National News. Retrieved 27 January 2013.{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2013}} and report that in Hebron they "routinely throw stones at children in the playground."Fleishman, Itamar (10 July 2012). [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4253868,00.html Hebron: Shalhevet Pass' sister hurt in rock attack] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518094651/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4253868,00.html |date=18 May 2017}} Ynetnews. Retrieved 27 January 2013. According to the IDF, Arab snipers have fired at cars containing children,{{cite web |author=Yaakov Lappin |url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=276829 |title=Gaza sniper fire shatters glass onto kid's car seat |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=9 June 2012 |access-date=29 April 2013 |archive-date=26 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226155140/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=276829 |url-status=live}} and rockets from Gaza have landed in locations that are typically frequented by large numbers of children.{{cite news |author=Ilana Curiel |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289511,00.html |title=Dozens of rockets, mortars hit south |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=8 October 2012 |access-date=29 April 2013 |archive-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208130204/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289511,00.html |url-status=live}}

A UN draft report on children in armed conflict, scheduled for publication in mid-June 2015 and prepared by Leila Zerrougui for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, reportedly recommended adding both Israel and Hamas to the "List of Shame" due to repeated violations of children's rights. Human Rights Watch wrote to Ban Ki-Moon on 27 April requesting that the names of Israel and Hamas remain on the list in the context of reports that Israel had been lobbying to have its name removed. Israel denies it has lobbied the UN over this. Inclusion in the list requires that a pattern of multiple instances of repeated abuses of children be evidenced. Human Rights Watch cited in its 2014 report on events in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict over the preceding year nearly a dozen cases of Palestinian children killed by Israeli security forces and over 1,200 Palestinian children injured. In addition, 41 incidents in which school facilities were damaged, classes interrupted, and students injured by IDF forces were registered. Palestinian armed groups, the reports also noted, had launched in the same period some 63 rockets into Israel from Gaza, resulting in disruptions to the schooling of over 12,000 Israeli children.[https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/04/un-ensure-integrity-children-s-list-shame 'UN: Ensure Integrity of Children's 'List of Shame','] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707085041/http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/04/un-ensure-integrity-children-s-list-shame |date=7 July 2015 }} Human Rights Watch 4 June 2015.

During the Gaza war, according to the Israeli government, up to 40 of the hostages taken by Hamas were children.Nathan Frandino, [https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-children-held-hostage-gaza-face-long-road-recovery-after-release-2023-11-22/ Israeli children held hostage in Gaza face a long road to recovery after release,'] Reuters |23 November 2023:' According to the Israeli government, up to 40 of the hostages are children, including a 10-month-old baby and preschoolers, some of whom saw their relatives murdered before their eyes just before being kidnapped.' Initial reports of 40 babies decapitated and one cooked in an oven were later proven to be false.Assma Maad, William Audureau, Samuel Forey, [https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2024/04/03/40-beheaded-babies-the-itinerary-of-a-rumor-at-the-heart-of-the-information-battle-between-israel-and-hamas_6667274_8.html '40 beheaded babies']: Deconstructing the rumor at the heart of the information battle between Israel and Hamas, Le Monde Diplomatique 3 April 2024:'there were never 40 decapitated babies. Not in Kfar Aza nor in any other kibbutz, the Israeli government press office confirmed to Le Monde.{{Cite web |last=Winer |first=Stuart |date=2023-10-11 |title=Corpses and kids' bikes, burned homes and death in kibbutz where Hamas butchered 100 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/corpses-and-kids-bikes-burned-homes-and-death-in-kibbutz-where-hamas-butchered-100/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Shoaib |first=Alia |title=Hamas militants ate family's lunch as they tortured and mutilated parents and 2 young children, says an Israeli emergency responder |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-hamas-gaza-militants-ate-lunch-tortured-mutilated-young-family-2023-10 |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}

File:גן ילדים בקיבוץ בארי לאחר הטבח בקיבוץ בארי צילם -יואב קרן.jpg]]

Though Israeli children were killed in the conflict during the decades prior, the first acts of Palestinian violence specifically targeting large numbers of Israeli children were committed in the 1970s.

The Avivim school bus bombing was a terrorist attack on an Israeli school bus on 22 May 1970 in which 12 Israeli civilians were killed, nine of them children, and 25 were wounded. The attack took place on the road to Moshav Avivim, near Israel's border with Lebanon. Two bazooka shells were fired at the bus.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=28775|title=Moshav Avivim still stands determined during tensions|work=The Jerusalem Post |date=20 July 2006 |access-date=26 April 2015}} The attack was one of the first carried out by the PFLP-GC.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qvoNAAAAQAAJ&dq=avivim+pflp&pg=PA145 |title=PLO Strategy and Politics |isbn=9780709929017 |access-date=20 September 2016 |archive-date=19 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219035137/https://books.google.com/books?id=qvoNAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA145&dq=avivim%20pflp&client=safari&pg=PA145#v=onepage&q=avivim%20pflp&f=false |url-status=live |last1=Yodfat |first1=Aryeh |last2=Arnon-Oḥanah |first2=Yuval |year=1981|publisher=Croom Helm }}

The Ma'alot massacre in May 1974 involved a two-day hostage-taking of 115 people which ended in the deaths of over 25 hostages. It began when three armed members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP){{cite news |last=Khoury |first=Jack |date=2007-03-06 |newspaper=Haaretz |title=U.S. filmmakers plan documentary on Ma'alot massacre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605223231/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-filmmakers-plan-documentary-on-ma-alot-massacre-1.214756 |archive-date=2011-06-05 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-filmmakers-plan-documentary-on-ma-alot-massacre-1.214756 |access-date=2022-07-27}} entered the Netiv Meir Elementary School, where they took more than 115 people (including 105 children) hostage on 15 May 1974, in Ma'a lot. The hostage-takers soon issued demands for the release of 23 Palestinian militants from Israeli prisons, or else they would kill the students. On the second day of the standoff, a unit of the Golani Brigade stormed the building. During the takeover, the hostage-takers killed the children with grenades and automatic weapons. Ultimately, 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed and 68 more were injured.

The Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing was a terrorist attack by on 1 June 2001 in which a suicide bomber Saeed Hotari, linked to the Palestinian group Hamas, blew himself up outside a discotheque on a beachfront in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 21 Israeli teenagers and injuring 132.{{cite web|url=http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/65/currentpage/22/Default.aspx|title=Publications|publisher=ICT|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203021154/http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/65/currentpage/22/Default.aspx|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-48416289.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023030542/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-48416289.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 October 2012|title=No. 1 Hamas terrorist killed. Followers threaten revenge in Tel Aviv. |last=O'Sullvian|first=Arieh|date=25 November 2001|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=30 January 2009}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29israel.html|title=In Hamas's Overt Hatred, Many Israelis See Hope|last=Fisher|first=Ian|date=29 January 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=30 January 2009|archive-date=11 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111022312/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29israel.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/home/0,7340,L-1258,00.html|title=ynet - פיגוע בדולפינריום - חדשות|publisher=ynet|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724182358/http://www.ynet.co.il/home/0,7340,L-1258,00.html|url-status=live}}

The 2008 Jerusalem yeshiva attack, also called the Mercaz HaRav shooting, was an attack that occurred on 6 March 2008, in which a lone Palestinian gunman shot multiple students at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva, a school in Jerusalem. Eight students and the perpetrator were killed. Eleven more were wounded, five of them placed in serious to critical condition."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7282269.stm Eight killed at Jerusalem school] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309202319/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7282269.stm |date=March 9, 2008 }}", BBC News Online, 6 March 2008[http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/03/06/terror-attack-at-jerusalem-seminary-merkaz-harav-yeshiva-8-dead/ Terror Attack At Jerusalem Seminary – Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva – 8 Dead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927101745/http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/03/06/terror-attack-at-jerusalem-seminary-merkaz-harav-yeshiva-8-dead/ |date=27 September 2011 }} National Terror Alert Response Center, 6 March 2008[http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/06/jerusalem_seminary_attacked/8267/ Jerusalem seminary attacked] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308201142/http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/06/jerusalem_seminary_attacked/8267/ |date=8 March 2008 }} UPI, 6 March 2008

Other terrorist attacks targeting children included the 2011 Itamar attack in which six children and their parents were murdered in their beds, including a three-month-old infant,{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=211991 |title=Rallies held around country in response to Itamar attacks |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=31 December 2010 |access-date=26 April 2015 |archive-date=23 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023064741/http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=211991 |url-status=live }} and the 2011 Sha'ar HaNegev school bus attack in which Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired a Kornet laser-guided anti-tank missile over the border at an Israeli school bus, killing one child.[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/school-bus-attack-may-spark-gaza-war/story-e6frg6so-1226036217156 School bus attack may spark Gaza war] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014062436/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/school-bus-attack-may-spark-gaza-war/story-e6frg6so-1226036217156 |date=14 October 2014 }}, The Australian 9 April 2011

During Hamas's surprise attack on Israel in 2023, Hamas subsequently kidnapped at least 30 children.{{Cite news |date=2023-10-20 |title=Hamas hostages: what we know so far |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-do-we-now-about-hamas-hostages-2023-10-19/ |access-date=2023-10-26}} Following the events and Israeli military response, false allegations, encouraged by social media attempted to deny the deaths of both Israeli and Palestinian children.{{Cite news |date=2023-10-25 |title=Omer and Omar: How two 4-year-olds were killed and social media denied it |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67206277 |access-date=2023-10-26}}

In 2010, Palestinian National Authority issued a "Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Occupied Palestinian Territory", i.e., the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and noted the Authority's lack of jurisdiction over these areas and the Israel "closure regime", the "Israeli Wall of Annexation and Expansion" and the many checkpoints Israel has set up within the occupied territories. All make it difficult for Palestinians to stop Israeli violations of the rights of Palestinian children.[http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/node/3834 Palestinian National Authority Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Occupied Palestinian Territory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414181210/https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/palestinian-national-authority-report-implementation-convention-rights-child-occupied |date=14 April 2020 }}, December 2010, at the Save the Children website.

According to the Israeli military and prison service, at the end of February 2018, there were 356 Palestinian minors (defined as before 18th birthday) held as Israeli security detainees and prisoners.{{cite web |url=http://www.militarycourtwatch.org/page.php?id=J5V0bQevz8a19020AWwFbv7lxv2 |title=Military Court Watch |access-date=13 April 2018 |archive-date=14 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414172324/http://www.militarycourtwatch.org/page.php?id=J5V0bQevz8a19020AWwFbv7lxv2 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.btselem.org/statistics/minors_in_custody|access-date=14 April 2018|author=Btselem|title=Statistics on Palestinian minors in the custody of the Israeli security forces|author-link=Btselem|archive-date=14 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414233854/https://www.btselem.org/statistics/minors_in_custody|url-status=live}}

Applicable to Israelis and Palestinians is the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Convention defines a child as any human being under the age of eighteen, unless the state itself defines the age of majority as an earlier age.{{cite web|title=Convention on the Rights of the Child |url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm |publisher=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611182141/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm |archive-date=11 June 2010}} Israel ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991.Or Kashti, [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/unicef-israel-negligent-in-guarding-children-s-rights-1.325790 UNICEF: Israel negligent in guarding children's rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105170309/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/unicef-israel-negligent-in-guarding-children-s-rights-1.325790 |date=5 November 2012 }}, Haaretz, 21 November 2010. Although Palestine did not have the status of a state, in 1995 Yassir Arafat, as the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, signed the Convention. The internationally accepted definition of children, codified in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), defines children as individuals under the age of 18. Since 1991, Israel has signed and ratified the CRC and applies the definition to Israeli children.{{cite book|last=Hanieh|first=Adam|title=Stolen Youth: The Politics of Israel's Detention of Palestinian Children|year=2004|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=0-7453-2162-3|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnoFAQAAIAAJ|access-date=23 October 2020|archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162333/https://books.google.com/books?id=lnoFAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}} However, in the Occupied Territories, Israel defines as minors only Palestinians who are under the age of 16. Some leaders of the major Palestinian armed groups also state that they consider children of 16 to be adults.{{cite press release|publisher=Human Rights Watch|title=Occupied Territories: Stop Use of Children in Suicide Bombings|date=3 October 2004|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/02/isrlpa9591.htm|access-date=29 January 2013|archive-date=8 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708233017/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/02/isrlpa9591.htm|url-status=live}} According to the 1971 Israeli Youth Law, criminal responsibility is set at 12 years of age and over. The law states that children under that age may not be arrested, and that children older than that age must not be interrogated unless their parents and their lawyer are present. The Israeli human rights monitoring group B'Tselem states that the law does not officially apply to Palestinian children in the Occupied Territories, who are subject to Israeli military law, but that the military court has recommended the provisions should be taken into consideration.{{cite web|title=Mass arrest of Palestinian children on their way to school in Hebron – at least 5 under the age of criminal responsibility|url=http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20130320_minors_detained_in_hebron|publisher=B'Tselem|access-date=31 March 2013|archive-date=3 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403123857/http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20130320_minors_detained_in_hebron|url-status=live}} According to Gideon Levy, these provisions are ignored in practice. A UNICEF report has stated that, "Ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized," and that, "In no other country are children systematically tried by juvenile military courts."Gideon Levy and Alex Levac [http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/aged-eight-wearing-a-mickey-mouse-sweatshirt-and-placed-in-israeli-custody.premium-1.512461 Aged eight, wearing a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, and placed in Israeli custody] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925000919/http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/aged-eight-wearing-a-mickey-mouse-sweatshirt-and-placed-in-israeli-custody.premium-1.512461 |date=25 September 2015 }}, Haaretz, 29 March 2013.

UNICEF: The utmost priorities lie in establishing an instant cessation of hostilities and ensuring unimpeded access for humanitarian aid, thereby facilitating the provision of essential assistance to the children and families residing in Gaza. It is imperative to acknowledge that regardless of their location, every child deserves protection and should never be subjected to any form of aggression.[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/19/israels-war-against-gazas-children-explained Is a ceasefire possible soon?] Retrieved 10 March 2024 During his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths had a conversation with families in Gaza over the phone from east Jerusalem on Tuesday. He expressed his deep concern about the immense suffering they have experienced since Israel began its retaliation for Hamas' deadly attacks on 7 October. Griffiths described the situation as "extremely devastating."[https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1143017 Toll of Israel-Palestine crisis on children 'beyond devastating'] Retrieved 10 March 2024 UNICEF's James Elder emphasized that the dangers extend beyond explosive devices and artillery. The escalating peril in the enclave lies in the increasing number of infant fatalities caused by dehydration. This threat arises from Gaza's water production, which currently stands at a mere five percent of the necessary capacity due to the inoperable desalination plants, either damaged or lacking fuel. Elder further stated that the repercussions for children will persist for generations once the conflict eventually ceases. The survivors' enduring psychological trauma will burden them for decades to come.[https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1143017 Decades of trauma ahead] Retrieved 10 March 2024

Save the Children, UNICEF, and Palestinian health officials described children being left with permanent disabilities, mental health issues, and amputations, with thousands experiencing dehydration, malnutrition, respiratory, and skin diseases. By late March 2024, an estimated 13,000 children in Gaza had been killed during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip beginning the previous October, with thousands more buried under rubble.{{cite web |last1=Scahill |first1=Jeremy |title="Man-Made Hell On Earth": A Canadian Doctor On His Medical Mission To Gaza |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/03/23/intercepted-doctor-gaza-interview/ |website=The Intercept |date=23 March 2024 |access-date=24 March 2024}} The UNICEF deputy director called the conditions of children in Gaza the "most horrific" he had ever seen.{{cite web |title=Statement by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban upon conclusion of his visit to the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/statement-unicef-deputy-executive-director-ted-chaiban-upon-conclusion-his-visit |website=UNICEF |access-date=20 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124181112/https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/statement-unicef-deputy-executive-director-ted-chaiban-upon-conclusion-his-visit |url-status=live }}{{efn|He also called for immediate and "unconditional" release of Israeli children who are being held hostage by Hamas.}} The ongoing crisis also impacted routine vaccinations, leaving thousands of children at risk, and further compounded challenges included inadequate shelter, a lack of adequate winter coats, and the psychological toll on children's mental health.{{cite news |title=Gaza families live in tents with no winter clothing |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-67548831 |website=BBC |access-date=10 February 2024 |archive-date=26 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226034438/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-67548831 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=UN: Gaza is World's Most Dangerous Place for Children |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/un-gaza-is-world-s-most-dangerous-place-for-children-/7404592.html |website=VOA |date=19 December 2023 |access-date=10 February 2024 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114080158/https://www.voanews.com/a/un-gaza-is-world-s-most-dangerous-place-for-children-/7404592.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Disease could kill more in Gaza than bombs, WHO says amid Israeli siege |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/disease-could-kill-more-in-gaza-than-bombs-who-says-amid-israeli-siege |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 February 2024 |archive-date=4 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204162105/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/disease-could-kill-more-in-gaza-than-bombs-who-says-amid-israeli-siege |url-status=live }}

The Health Ministry situated in Gaza has issued a statement highlighting the complete depletion of children's vaccinations in the Gaza Strip. Expressing deep concern, the ministry emphasized the potential serious health consequences for children due to the scarcity of vaccinations. This shortage could potentially facilitate the spread of diseases, particularly among those residing in densely populated shelters within the enclave.[https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-ran-out-of-vaccinations-for-palestinian-children-says-health-ministry/3081339# Gaza ran out of vaccinations for Palestinian children, says Health Ministry] Retrieved 3 April 2024

It has been observed that the reaction of Israeli police and military against Palestinian violence is so strong that it "practically eliminates the chances of effective training directed at the protection of children."{{cite book|author1=Charles W. Greenbaum|author2=Philip E. Veerman|author3=Naomi Bacon-Schnoor|title=Protection of Children During Armed Conflict: A Multidisciplinary Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FTxoncXDwwC&pg=PA371|access-date=31 March 2013|year=2006|publisher=Intersentia nv|isbn=978-90-5095-341-2|pages=371–|archive-date=19 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219054855/https://books.google.com/books?id=9FTxoncXDwwC&pg=PA371|url-status=live}} Many children are raised in refugee camps, and their situation has been described by Daoud Kuttub in the following way:

"Unlike children in refugee camps elsewhere, children born in refugee camps under occupation drink their mothers' milk while their camp is under curfew; they wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of rubber bullets and rumors of a possible settler attack. As they grow up, they quickly learn the political lesson of the occupation. Soldiers, batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, arrests, torture, curfews, closure of camp entrances, administrative detention, and town arrests are all prominent entries in the refugee camps' daily dictionary."Daoud Kuttab,[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2537456 'A Profile of the Stonethrowers,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030005554/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2537456 |date=October 30, 2021 }} Journal of Palestine Studies, Spring 1988, vol. 17, no. 3, pp.14–23, p.14.

{{Pie chart

| caption = Breakdown of Palestinian deaths in the Gaza war by age and gender as of November 2023 (analysis by professors Michael Spagat and Daniel Silverman){{cite web|author= Michael Spagat and Daniel Silverman |title=Is the Hamas-run Ministry of Health data on fatalities in Gaza to be trusted?|url=https://aoav.org.uk/2023/are-the-gazan-casualty-figures-being-reported-reliable-two-conflict-experts-compared-the-numbers-to-previous-attacks-and-conclude-they-are-credible/|date=2023-11-01}}

| value1 = 35.3

| label1 = Men and boys over 14

| value2 = 24.1

| label2 = Women and girls over 14

| value3 = 33.8

| label3 = Children under 14

| value4 = 6.8

| label4 = Elderly, above 60

}}

File:Damage in Gaza Strip during the October 2023 - 42 (cropped).jpg

File:Damage in Gaza Strip during the October 2023 - 13.jpg

Each year, approximately 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17, the great majority of them boys, are arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli army, police and security agents.Jessie McDonald, [https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/28/one-name-in-a-long-list-the-pointless-death-of-another-west-bank-teenager 'One name in a long list': the pointless death of another West Bank teenager,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608090617/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/28/one-name-in-a-long-list-the-pointless-death-of-another-west-bank-teenager |date=8 June 2021 }} The Guardian 28 May 2021.

Between the years 2003 and 2013, an estimated 7,000 children were detained, interrogated, prosecuted and/or imprisoned within the Israeli military justice system – an average of two children each day.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=9}} Israel, after it emerged that even 12-year-old children were prosecuted in adult military courts, instituted in September 2009 a juvenile military court, the only one known to exist in the world, which, however, uses the same staff and rooms as the military courts where Palestinian adults are put on trial.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=6}} Two years later (27 September 2011), Military Order 1676 stipulated that only youths 18 and over could be tried in adult military courts. However, the sentencing protocols applied to the 16–17 year old bracket remain those applied to adults.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=8}} Most prosecutions of teenagers concern stone-throwing, which is an offence under Section 212 of Military Order 1651, and carries a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment, theoretically applicable to children between 14 and 15. Conviction for throwing anything at a moving vehicle with the intent to harm carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|pp=8–9,27}}

The analysis of cases monitored by UNICEF identified examples of practices that amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by Israel in 1991 and the PA in 1995){{sfn|Sait|2004|p=220}} and the Convention against Torture. It is common for many children caught up in the system to be aggressively woken{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=9}} in the middle of the night by many armed soldiers and, tied and blindfolded, transported to Israeli settlements or official interrogation centers. Few children are informed of their rights to legal counsel or their right to avoid self-incrimination.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|pp=10–11}} Confessions from children are extracted by a mixture of sleep deprivation, threats–of death threats against them or their families, sexual assault and solitary confinement–and physical violence. Confessions to be signed are often written in Hebrew, which most Palestinian children do not know.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=11}} Once the interrogation is finished, the children, in leg chains, shackles and prison uniforms, are taken before a military court{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=12}} where their confessions, extorted under duress, form the primary evidence for the prosecution.{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=13}} Sentences are served in three prisons, two of which are inside Israel, and critics argue that their incarceration in Israel violates Article 76 of the Geneva Convention, which states that "protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein."{{sfn|Unicef|2013|p=13}}

According to John Dugard, the UN Special Rapporteur, regarding the early years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000–2002), most child victims were not participating in demonstrations when they were killed by tank shelling, artillery fire and helicopter gunships.{{sfn|Sait|2004|pp=215–216,221}} Since the Second Intifada, UNICEF (The United Nations Children's Fund), Amnesty International, B'Tselem and individuals such as the British writer Derek Summerfield, have called for Israel to protect children from violence in accordance with the Geneva conventions. The European Union has linked the suspension of Israel/Europe trade agreement talks to human rights issues, especially regarding children.[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/25/israel-palestinian-territories Guardian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302075103/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/25/israel-palestinian-territories |date=2 March 2009 }} Upgrade Palestinian rights As it freezes an upgrade of relations with Israel, the EU should now demand respect for human rights, especially for children by Seth Freedman 27 February 2009

In 2012, Breaking the Silence, an organization founded by former Israeli soldiers whose purpose is to expose abuses committed by the Israeli Defense Forces, released a booklet of witness reports written by more than 30 former Israeli soldiers. These reports document Palestinian children being beaten, intimidated, humiliated, verbally abused and injured by Israeli soldiers. Eran Efrati, a former IDF commander on the West Bank, has said that ill-treatment of arrested children is routine. He himself admits to having arrested children aged 11 and over as though they were adults, with handcuffs and blindfolds:

"When the kid is sitting there in the base, I didn't do it, but nobody is thinking of him as a kid, you know—if there is someone blindfolded and handcuffed, he's probably done something really bad. It's OK to slap him, it's OK to spit on him, it's OK to kick him sometimes. It doesn't really matter."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8186905.stm 'Israeli troops 'ill-treat kids','] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815122531/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8186905.stm |date=August 15, 2014 }} BBC News 6 August 2014.

700 of the 9,000 Palestinians arrested in 2013 were children. Between 2014 and 2015, the military prosecuted indictments against 1,046 Palestinian minors.{{sfn|Stein|2018|p=7}} The non-governmental organization, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, accused the Israeli forces of orchestrating "their actions" to "humiliate and terrorize Palestinian children."{{cite web|last1=Human Rights Monitor|first1=Euro-Mediterranean|title=From Abduction to Prison|url=http://euromid.org/uploads/reports/Child-Palestine.pdf|publisher=Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor|access-date=30 June 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093957/http://euromid.org/uploads/reports/Child-Palestine.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{excerpt|Effect of the Gaza war on children in the Gaza Strip#Sniper killings}}

In September 2009, after documentation emerged showing Palestinian children as young as 12 were prosecuted in adult military courts, Israel established a juvenile military court, 'the first and only juvenile military court in operation in the world.' Military Order 1651 establishes a maximum 6 months sentence for children aged 12–13, and 12 months for juniors aged 14–15, unless the offence involves throwing stones at persons or property with the intent to damage, in which case 10 years imprisonment is the maximum penalty.[http://www.unicef.org/oPt/UNICEF_oPt_Children_in_Israeli_Military_Detention_Observations_and_Recommendations_-_6_March_2013.pdf 'Children in Israeli Military Detention Observations and Recommendations,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531092608/https://www.unicef.org/media/media_68093.html |date=31 May 2017 }} February 2013 pp.6,8.

In one case, a 5-year-old child has been detained on allegations he threw stones in Hebron. The IDF said that the boy had endangered passers-by and that soldiers only accompanied him to his parents. It stated that the child was not arrested and no charges were filed.Gili Cohen, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/watch-idf-soldiers-detain-five-year-old-palestinian-for-stone-throwing-in-hebron.premium-1.535260 'WATCH: IDF soldiers detain five-year-old Palestinian for stone-throwing in Hebron,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712083751/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/watch-idf-soldiers-detain-five-year-old-palestinian-for-stone-throwing-in-hebron.premium-1.535260 |date=12 July 2013 }} Haaretz, 11 July 2013[http://video.repubblica.it/mondo/gisgiordania-arrestato-a-5-anni-per-aver-tirato-una-pietra/134678/133218 'Cisgiordania, arrestato bambino di 5 anni per aver lanciato pietre contro un'auto,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162335/https://video.repubblica.it/mondo/cisgiordania-arrestato-a-5-anni-per-aver-tirato-una-pietra/134678/133218? |date=24 June 2022 }} at La Repubblica, 11 July 2013{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23281567|title=Israel 'illegally detained' five-year-old Palestinian|work=BBC News|date=12 July 2013 |access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163437/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23281567|url-status=live}}

A separate study, conducted from 2005 until 2010, was released in mid-2011 by the Jerusalem-based non-profit B'Tselem. The study found that the actions of the IDF potentially violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Fourth Geneva Convention.{{cite web|publisher=B'Tselem|title=No Minor Matter Study 2011|url=http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/2011-no-minor-matter|access-date=27 March 2017|archive-date=19 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319035200/http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/2011-no-minor-matter|url-status=live}}

According to a March 2013 report by the UNICEF, Israel has arrested some 7,000 Palestinian children; 18 of 27 arrested in Hebron in March 2013 were below the age of 12.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130311140108/http://www.unicef.org/media/media_68093.html Palestinian children need improved protection in Israeli military detention], UNICEF Press release, 6 March 2013, plus link to report [http://www.unicef.org/oPt/UNICEF_oPt_Children_in_Israeli_Military_Detention_Observations_and_Recommendations_-_6_March_2013.pdf Children in Israeli military detention: observations and recommendations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531092608/https://www.unicef.org/media/media_68093.html |date=31 May 2017 }}, February 2013. The report was based on 400 cases documented since 2009. It stated that the Palestinian children who are detained by the Israeli military are subjected to "widespread, systematic and institutionalized" ill treatment in violation of international law. UNICEF estimated that in the West Bank, IDF and Israeli security services annually arrest around 700 youths between 12 and 17 years old. The report supported claims that the arrests were often made, without notice, in private homes at night. It reports that children are blindfolded, painfully restrained, and subjected to physical and verbal abuse while being detained, sometimes in solitary confinement.

The report further claims that, once in detention, they are interrogated and coerced into confession, without immediate access to a legal counsel or family members.{{cite news|last=Lubell|first=Maayan|title=Israel mistreats Palestinian children in custody: UNICEF|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-children-idUSBRE9250D520130306|access-date=11 March 2013|publisher=Reuters|date=6 March 2013|archive-date=14 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214210704/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-children-idUSBRE9250D520130306|url-status=live}} Signed confessions are typically typed in Hebrew, which few Palestinian minors can read. As of January 2013, Israeli military prisons held 233 males under 18, 31 under the age of 16.{{cite news|title=UNICEF calls on Israel to reform detention policies for Palestinian minors|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/unicef-calls-on-israel-to-reform-detention-policies-for-palestinian-minors/|access-date=11 March 2013|publisher=Fox News|date=6 March 2013|archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162336/https://www.foxnews.com/world/unicef-calls-on-israel-to-reform-detention-policies-for-palestinian-minors|url-status=live}} Additionally, children are shackled during court appearances and made to serve sentences in Israel. UNICEF stated these findings "amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture." The UN has added the Israeli army to a "blacklist" of countries that have mistreated children in armed conflicts.{{cite news |last1=Gadzo |first1=Mersiha |title=Israel's war on Gaza updates: 5,698 violations against children by Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/6/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-who-chief-warns-of-catastrophic-hunger-in-gaza |agency=Al Jazeera |date=13 Jun 2024}}

About 60 percent of arrested minors are charged with throwing rocks at soldiers or passing cars, which the IDF regards as a form of terrorism as it has led to the death and injury of Israelis, including children.{{cite news|title=Israeli army arrests Palestinians suspected of rock-throwing; Israeli infant badly injured|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/israeli-army-arrests-palestinians-suspected-of-rock-throwing-israeli-infant-badly-injured/|access-date=12 April 2013|publisher=Fox News|date=15 March 2013|archive-date=17 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317024520/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/15/israeli-army-arrests-palestinians-suspected-rock-throwing-israeli-infant-badly/|url-status=live}}

The UNICEF report noted that Israel had made some positive changes over recent years, such as hand tying measures that do not cause pain or injury, but urged Israel to refrain from blindfolding minors and holding them in solitary confinement, and to permit an attorney or family member to attend interrogations and allow interrogations to be recorded to document any false claims of abuse. Israel stated it would study the conclusions and work to implement them in cooperation with UNICEF. In October 2013, UNICEF reported that the IDF was introducing changes in its arrest of minors in a pilot-test programme, but according to Haaretz, the policy had not at that date been implemented and was still under study.Gili Cohen, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.552831 'Israeli army taking steps to change Palestinian child arrest policy,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031183317/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.552831 |date=31 October 2013 }} Haaretz, 16 October 2013.

File:Pisgat Ze'ev stabbings.jpg

On 12 October 2015, two Palestinian boys, 15-year-old Hassan Khalid Manasra and his cousin, 13-year-old Ahmad Manasra, both from Beit Hanina, stabbed two Israelis in Pisgat Ze'ev, an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem. Ahmad Manasra was sentenced by an Israeli court to {{frac|9|1|2}} years in prison. In response to this attack, and other attacks carried out by Palestinian children against Israelis during the 2015–2016 wave of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the Knesset passed a bill that allowed Israeli authorities to imprison children from the age of twelve if convicted of terrorism.{{cite news |agency=Ma'an News Agency |date=4 August 2016 |title=Israel passes law allowing arrest of Palestinian children under the age of 14 |work=Al Bawaba |url=https://www.albawaba.com/news/israel-passes-law-allowing-arrest-palestinian-children-under-age-14-869528 |via=SyndiGate.info}}

A 2023 report by Save the Children found widespread use of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse against Palestinian children in Israeli military detention. The report found that among detained children, 86% were beaten, 69% were strip-searched, 60% spent time in solitary confinement, 68% were denied any healthcare, and 58% were denied visits or communication with family.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-09 |title=Defenceless: The Impact of Israeli Military Detention on Palestinian Children - occupied Palestinian territory |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/defenceless-impact-israeli-military-detention-palestinian-children |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-07-10 |title=Palestinian children abused in Israeli detention: NGO |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/10/palestinian-children-abused-in-israeli-detention-ngo |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}

In January 2015, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor issued a press release about the Israeli detention of a Palestinian girl. The monitor said that Malak Al-Khatib, a 14-year-old Palestinian girl, has been imprisoned by Israeli authorities for 22 consecutive days without contact with her parents, and has just been sentenced to serve another month along with a stiff fine on her parents. In addition, the monitor said that another four children as young as 11 were recently held for four hours under threat of detention and death. The Euro-Med Monitor has condemned Israel's policy of detaining children and subjecting them to abusive and inhumane treatment.{{cite web |title=Palestinian Girl Imprisoned for Two Months, Four Other Children Threatened by Israeli Authorities |url=http://www.euromedmonitor.org/en/article/698/Palestinian-girl-imprisoned-for-two-months--four-other-children-threatened-by-Israeli-Authorities |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302051149/http://www.euromedmonitor.org/en/article/698/Palestinian-girl-imprisoned-for-two-months--four-other-children-threatened-by-Israeli-Authorities |archive-date=2 March 2016 |access-date=22 February 2016 |publisher=Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor}}

Many Palestinian children are detained in night raids, with some being placed in administrative detention without undergoing trial or receiving a sentence. According to Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, there are numerous significant human rights issues associated with these actions.[https://time.com/6548068/palestinian-children-israeli-prison-arrested/ The Traumatic Arrests of Children] Retrieved 11 March 2024

{{Main|Human shields in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}

Amnesty International's report into the 2008 Gaza War stated that they had found instances in which the IDF endangered the lives of civilians, including children, by using them as human shields. The report discussed examples such as "forcing them to remain in or near houses which they took over and used as military positions. Some were forced to carry out dangerous tasks such as inspecting properties or objects suspected of being booby-trapped."{{cite web|title=Israel/Gaza- Operation Cast Lead: 22Days of Death and Destruction|date=2 July 2009 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/015/2009/en/|publisher=Amnesty international|access-date=16 March 2013|archive-date=12 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112090825/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/015/2009/en/8f299083-9a74-4853-860f-0563725e633a/mde150152009en.pdf|url-status=live}} The Israeli military denied the allegations, saying "The IDF operated in accordance with the rules of war and did the utmost to minimize harm to civilians uninvolved in combat. The IDF's use of weapons conforms to international law."{{cite news |title=Guardian investigation uncovers evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza |first=Clancy |last=Chassy |work=The Guardian |date=23 March 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/23/israel-gaza-war-crimes-guardian |location=London |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=2 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302124521/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/23/israel-gaza-war-crimes-guardian |url-status=live }} Israel's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs likewise accused Hamas and other militant groups of using children as human shields during the Gaza war.{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm |title=Hamas exploitation of civilians as human shields: Photographic evidence |publisher=Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=6 March 2008 |access-date=29 September 2011 |archive-date=6 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406035107/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Hamas+exploitation+of+civilians+as+human+shields+-+Photographic+evidence.htm |url-status=live }}[http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/g_report_e1.pdf Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip; The Main Findings of the Goldstone Report Versus the Factual Findings] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813152033/http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/g_report_e1.pdf |date=13 August 2011 }}, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, pp. 4–5 summary.

In 2010, two IDF soldiers were convicted of 'excess authority' and 'conduct unbecoming' for using a 9-year-old Palestinian child as a human shield to open packages they suspected of being booby trapped during the 2008 Gaza War. Both soldiers received three months' probation and a demotion in rank. The Israeli Deputy Military Advocate for Operational Affairs commented that "the defendants did not seek to humiliate or degrade the boy."{{cite book|last=Weil|first=S|title=Is There a Court for Gaza?: A Test Bench for International Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzZqKXNSj_AC&q=IDF%20human%20shield%20children&pg=PA119|year=2012|publisher=T.M.C. Asser Press|isbn=978-9067048194|page=119|access-date=23 October 2020|archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162335/https://books.google.com/books?id=hzZqKXNSj_AC&q=IDF+human+shield+children&pg=PA119|url-status=live}}

File:25th anniversary of Hamas (18).jpg

Historically, in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, Palestinian children and youths often figured at the forefront of struggles to oppose Jewish immigration into Palestine. According to David M. Rosen, from the beginning of the conflict, the belief developed among militants that youth have a duty to sacrifice themselves.David M. Rosen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zQYQ0tho6mAC&pg=PA91 Armies of the Young: Child Soldiers in War and Terrorism], Rutgers University Press, 2005 {{isbn|978-0-813-53568-5}} p.91. With the emergence of Fatah in the Palestinian diaspora, the PLO created youth groups like the Zahrat (flowers) for girls and Ashbal (lion cubs) for boys in communities of exiled Palestinians. The aim was to provide them with military training as part of a programme to strengthen a Palestinian national self-awareness within the context of a revolutionary culture.

When the First Intifada broke out, a culture of linking the Palestinian stone-throwing child to a shahid quickly developed.Baruch Kimmerling, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6NRYEr8FR1IC&pg=PA261 The Palestinian People: A History,] Harvard University Press, 2009 {{isbn|978-0-674-03959-9}} pp.261,266, pp.297–298. In the five years running up to the outbreak of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian Authority created 19 paramilitary training camps for teenagers. The drills include mock kidnappings of Israeli political figures, attacks on military posts and training with Kalashnikovs. Testimonies from young people highlighted an agenda of radicalization. Shaul Kimhi and Shmuel Even, writing of events down to 2003, have argued that children and youths who engage in terrorist acts form part of a fourth category by motivation, which they define as "the exploited."Shaul Kimhi and Shmuel Even, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240613495_Who_are_the_Palestinian_Suicide_Terrorists#read « Who Are the Palestinian Suicide Bombers? »], Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 6, no 2, September 2003, pp.28–34, p.31.

In October 2000, the Grand Mufti Ekrima Sa'id Sabri incited child suicide bombers when questioned about suicide attacks, he declared: "The younger the martyr, the more I respect him."David Patterson, A Genealogy of Evil, Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 25 (ISBN 978-0-511-76242-0) The participation of children in acts of violence intensified during the Second Intifada, as many children were recruited into Palestinian armed groups. Daphne Burdman (2003) describes a process in which young people were encouraged to die as martyrs through incitement of the Palestinian educational system.

File:Pro Hamas Rally in Damascus.jpg at Pro Hamas Rally in Damascus]]

According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers' "2004 Global Report on the Use of Child Soldiers," there was "no evidence of systematic recruitment of children by Palestinian armed groups."{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150628042522/http://www.child-soldiers.org/global_report_reader.php?id=281 Child Soldiers Global Report 2004]}} Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, pp. 292, 304 The report noted that "children are used as messengers and couriers, and in some cases as fighters and suicide bombers in attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. All the main political groups involve children in this way, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine." In total, there were at least nine incidents where children were involved in suicide attacks or other violent militant acts.

According to Human Rights Watch, in 2004, the major Palestinian armed groups, including Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas "have publicly disavowed the use of children in military operations, but those stated policies have not always been implemented." In part, this is because some leaders state they consider children of 16 to be adults. In 2005, Amnesty International condemned the use of children by Palestinian militant groups, saying: "Palestinian armed groups have repeatedly shown total disregard for the most fundamental human rights, notably the right to life, by deliberately targeting Israeli civilians and by using Palestinian children in armed attacks."[https://www.amnesty.org/ar/documents/mde15/033/2005/ar/ Public Statement: Israel/Occupied Territories: Palestinian armed groups must not use children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322050852/https://www.amnesty.org/ar/documents/mde15/033/2005/ar/ |date=22 March 2020 }}, Amnesty International, 23 May 2005.

{{Main|Use of human shields by Hamas}}

During the Second Intifada (2000–2005), Haaretz reported that Palestinian militant gunmen used civilians and children as human shields by surrounding themselves with children while shooting at IDF forces.{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-stoking-an-appetite-for-revenge-1.116136 |title=Analysis / Stoking an appetite for revenge |work=Haaretz |date=3 August 2004 |access-date=16 March 2013 |author=Harel, Amos |quote=The photographs from recent operations show that the armed Palestinians use the many civilians in the area, including children, as a "human shield". Since this is done routinely, harming children (some, it is possible, by Palestinian fire) becomes almost impossible to prevent. |archive-date=21 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121212715/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-stoking-an-appetite-for-revenge-1.116136 |url-status=live }}

In a 2006 incident, the Israeli Air Force warned Mohammed Weil Baroud, a Palestinian leader accused by Israel of firing Qassam rockets at Israel, to evacuate his home in Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip in advance of an Israeli airstrike. Instead, hundreds of Palestinians, including many women and children, gathered outside Baroud's house. Israel suspended the airstrike out of fear that the civilians would be killed or injured. A senior Hamas official said the new tactic was taken because in previous months, Israel had destroyed 58 houses and more than 240 people had been left homeless. After Israel called off the strike, another Palestinian leader said, "We have won. From now on we will form human chains around every house that is threatened with demolition."{{cite news | url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=41818 | title=Gaza: Use of human shields continues | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430224313/https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Gaza-Use-of-human-shields-continues |archivedate=30 April 2020 | newspaper=The Jerusalem Post | date=19 November 2006}}

In October 2009, local Palestinians confirmed that Hamas had fired at Israeli troops from adjacent to a UN school for girls where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge, leading to civilian casualties.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100114103221/http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/37163864.html Residents: Hamas Militants Staged Attacks from Cover of UN School], Associated Press, 6 January 2009.[http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/israel.gaza/index.html Israel: Hamas mortars prompted attack near UN school] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105102337/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/israel.gaza/index.html |date=5 November 2012 }}, CNN, 6 January 2009.

During the 2012 Gaza War, Hamas was accused of launching rockets from hospitals, schools, mosques and playgrounds.{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=292646|title=Dealing with Hamas's human shield tactics|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=7 April 2013|archive-date=17 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317040455/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=292646|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/hackers-target-israel-with-millions-of-attacks-as-hamas-rockets-continue-to-fall/|title=Hackers target Israel with millions of attacks as Hamas rockets continue to fall|publisher=Fox News|access-date=7 April 2013|archive-date=19 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119180830/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/19/hackers-target-israel-with-millions-attacks-as-hamas-rockets-continue-to-fall/|url-status=live}} This practice was condemned by Human Rights Watch,{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=297107 |title=HRW: Hamas rockets from Gaza violated laws of war |work=Jerusalem Post |date=15 February 2013 |access-date=12 April 2013 |archive-date=15 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215194826/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=297107 |url-status=live }} the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/11/despite-media-reports-to-the-contrary-baby-gaza-conflict-was-likely-killed-by-hamas-rocket-un/|title=Despite media reports to the contrary, baby in Gaza conflict was killed by Hamas rocket: UN|work=National Post|access-date=12 April 2013}} and the IDF.{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=292482|title=Hamas intensifies barrage of missiles on South|work=Jerusalem Post|access-date=12 April 2013|archive-date=26 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226070946/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=292482|url-status=live}}

During the Gaza war, Hamas was again accused of using human shields.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-08 |title=Hamas plans to use Israeli civilian hostages as human shields |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1696753484-hamas-plans-to-use-israeli-civilian-hostages-as-human-shields |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=I24news |language=en}}

{{Main|Child suicide bombers in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}

According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers' "2004 Global Report on the Use of Child Soldiers," there were at least nine documented suicide attacks involving Palestinian minors between October 2000 and March 2004.

In 2004, The Guardian reported that the Israeli military "accused a faction of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement of using an 11-year-old boy as an unwitting human bomb after the child was discovered carrying explosives through an army checkpoint in Nablus."[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/17/israel1 Israelis say boy, 11, used as bomber] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110034517/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/mar/17/israel1 |date=10 November 2012 }}, The Guardian, 17 March 2004. In 2009, a 14-year-old was captured by Israeli soldiers and told of being given $23 and a suicide bomber's vest. His family said he was gullible and easily manipulated.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-bomber-stopped-at-west-bank/|title=Teen Bomber Stopped At West Bank|date=25 March 2004|work=CBS News|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=19 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019161031/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/25/world/main608756.shtml|url-status=live}}

Shafiq Masalha, a clinical psychologist who teaches at Tel Aviv University, wrote in 2004 that 15 percent of Palestinian children dreamt of becoming suicide bombers.[http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/1946.cfm The Children's Crusade] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163437/http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/1946.cfm |date=1 February 2016 }}, World Press Review, 29 September 2004. According to Eyad Sarraj, Palestinian psychiatrist and director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, a survey by his program found that 36 percent of Palestinians over 12 aspired to die "a martyr's death" fighting Israel.{{cite news|title=Angry uncle leads uproar on the hesitant boy bomber|work=The Age|date=27 March 2004|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/26/1079939847304.html|access-date=21 October 2012|archive-date=8 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908025851/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/26/1079939847304.html|url-status=live}}

Former UN Under-Secretary General Olara Otunnu stated in 2003: "We have witnessed both ends of these acts: children have been used as suicide bombers and children have been killed by suicide bombings. I call on the Palestinian authorities to do everything within their powers to stop all participation by children in this conflict."Radler, Melissa, "UN condemns Palestinians' use of children in conflict," Jerusalem Post, 15 January 2003.

Below is a summary of tables of child fatalities from 1987 to 2022 presented by B'Tselem. It provides an overview of killings of Israeli children by Palestinian militants and of Palestinian children, largely by Israeli security forces. Per the below, the Israeli government disputes some of these numbers, especially regarding the Gaza War.{{cite journal|last=Penny|first=Madaline|author2=Fielding, David|date=Jan 2009|title=What Causes Changes in Opinion About|url=http://www.btselem.org/English/index.asp|journal=Journal of Peace Research|volume=46|issue=1|pages=99–118|doi=10.1177/0022343308098406|jstor=27640801|quote=In measuring the different dimensions of the conflict, we will use figures reported by the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, since this organization reports the widest variety of figures within a consistent frame work.|hdl=10523/866|s2cid=56310235|hdl-access=free|access-date=22 April 2013|archive-date=20 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720230410/http://www.btselem.org/English/index.asp|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Finkelstein|title=Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-semitism and the Abuse of History |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondchutzpahon00fink_0|url-access=registration|access-date=22 April 2013|year=2008|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24989-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/beyondchutzpahon00fink_0/page/96 96]–}}{{cite journal|author1=David A. Jaeger|author2=M. Daniele Paserman|date=Sep 2008|title=The Cycle of Violence? An Empirical Analysis of Fatalities in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict|url=http://www.btselem.org|journal=The American Economic Review|volume=98|issue=4|pages=1591–1604|doi=10.1257/aer.98.4.1591|jstor=29730135|s2cid=155033393|quote=we rely primarily on the Web site of B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization. Widely thought to be accurate and reliable, the data published by B'Tselem record in detail every fatality (excluding suicide bombers) on both sides of the conflict during the second Intifada.|author1-link=David A. Jaeger|access-date=11 December 2004|archive-date=19 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319170536/https://www.btselem.org/|url-status=live|hdl=10419/33236|hdl-access=free}}

The First Intifada of mass protests and rioting by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza started in 1987, and children frequently participated. In an article in the London Review of Books, American professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt claimed that the Israel Defense Forces ("IDF") encouraged troops to break protesters' bones. The Swedish branch of Save the Children estimated that during the first year of the intifada, between 23,600 and 29,900 children required medical treatment for such beating, tear gas, and gunfire injuries and that nearly a third were under the age of ten.{{cite journal|title=The Israel Lobby|journal=London Review of Books|last1=Mearsheimer|author1-link=John Mearsheimer|first1=John|last2=Walt|first2=Stephen|author2-link=Stephen Walt|volume=28|issue=6|year=2006|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby|pages=3–12|access-date=3 December 2012|archive-date=15 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115161401/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby|url-status=live}} The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists 24 Israeli child fatalities between 1993 and 1999.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+before+2000/Fatal+Terrorist+Attacks+in+Israel+Since+the+DOP+-S.htm|title=Fatal Terrorist Attacks in Israel (Sept 1993–1999)|work=GxMSDev|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=15 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715040430/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+before+2000/Fatal+Terrorist+Attacks+in+Israel+Since+the+DOP+-S.htm|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}

As the B'Tselem summaries show, from the outbreak of the Second Intifada starting in 2000 through the 2008–2009 Gaza War to September 2012, there were a greater number of child fatalities. A study by the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism covering September 2001 to January 2005 found that 46 Israelis and 88 Palestinians were below the age of 12 at the time of their deaths.[http://212.150.54.123/casualties_project/stats_page.cfm "ICT Middleastern Conflict Statistics Project"]{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2013}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703195937/http://212.150.54.123/casualties_project/stats_page.cfm |date=3 July 2007}}. Short summary page with "Breakdown of Fatalities: September 27, 2000 through January 1, 2005." International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism. The youngest victim of violence during the Second Intifada was an Israeli infant who was nine hours old at the time of his death.[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2002/2/Weinberg%20infant Weinberg infant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526021828/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2002/2/Weinberg%20infant |date=26 May 2019 }}, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2002.[https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/29773/first-intifada-1987-1993 The First Intifada, 1987-1993] Retrieved 27 February 2024 During the 2004–2009 period, there were reports of 30 or more Palestinian children and infants dying, including as a result of miscarriage, at Israeli checkpoints where they were held for long periods of time and denied medical care.* Derek Summerfield, [http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7471/924?ijkey=a8226af1022ebb0cadde58e68d909f684dd5c9b3&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha Personal View: Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420144736/http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7471/924?ijkey=a8226af1022ebb0cadde58e68d909f684dd5c9b3&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha |date=20 April 2017 }}, 14 October 2004;([http://www.zcommunications.org/palestine-the-assault-on-health-and-other-war-crimes-by-derek-summerfield copy readable without registration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026214812/https://www.zcommunications.org/palestine-the-assault-on-health-and-other-war-crimes-by-derek-summerfield |date=26 October 2021 }} at Z Communications website.) mentions 30 children, some babies born while women in labor, who died because they were kept at checkpoints.

• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7612887.stm Israeli jailed over baby tragedy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929132407/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7612887.stm |date=29 September 2018 }}, BBC, 12 September 2008; mentions 35 women miscarried.
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7924199.stm Palestinian health care 'ailing'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307075329/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7924199.stm |date=7 March 2015 }}, BBC, Thursday, 5 March 2009 mentions a United Nations' report that stated more than 60 Palestinian women had given birth at Israeli checkpoints and 36 of their babies died as a result. Additionally, suicide bombings and other attacks have caused Israeli women to suffer miscarriages,*[http://sderotmedia.org.il/bin/content.cgi?ID=929&q=3 Qassam rocket strikes Afflalo family in Sderot for the second time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012134154/http://sderotmedia.org.il/bin/content.cgi?ID=929&q=3 |date=12 October 2013 }}
• [http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=92309 UN official: Press Hamas to stop Kassams]
• [http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/shows/cwn/2008/March/Sderot-Shaken-by-Persistent-Rocket-Fire-/?Print=true Sderot Shaken by Persistent Rocket Fire] and numerous pregnant women have been killed.{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11952|title=Who Cares About the Murder of Pregnant Israeli Women?|work=Arutz Sheva|date=23 July 2012 |access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=18 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518101116/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11952|url-status=live}}

Casualties after the three-week Gaza War during the winter of 2008–2009 were disputed. B'Tselem put out a report stating that 320 Palestinian minors under the age of 18 who did not take part in hostilities had been killed by Israeli forces. It was unknown if six other dead children took part, but 19 children between the ages of 16 and 18 who did so also were killed.{{cite web|title=Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf|publisher=UN|access-date=22 April 2013|pages=90–92|archive-date=28 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928070929/https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf|url-status=live}}[http://www.btselem.org/download/20090909_cast_lead_fatalities_eng.pdf B'Tselem's investigation of fatalities in Operation Cast Lead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708231000/http://www.btselem.org/download/20090909_cast_lead_fatalities_eng.pdf |date=8 July 2017 }}, B'Tselem website, undated. Defence for Children International reported that 352 children had died as a direct result of Israeli military action.{{cite web|title=Operation Cast Lead: 352 children killed|url=http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?CategoryId=1&DocId=917|publisher=Defence for Children International|access-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119092752/http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?CategoryId=1&DocId=917|archive-date=19 January 2013|url-status=dead}} The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights found that 318 Palestinian children had been killed.{{cite web|title=4 Years Since Operation Cast Lead|url=http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9153:4-years-since-operation-cast-lead-&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194|publisher=Palestinian Centre for Human Rights|access-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612073642/http://pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9153:4-years-since-operation-cast-lead-&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194|archive-date=12 June 2013|url-status=dead}} Al Mezan Center for Human Rights found that 355 Gazan children were killed by Israeli forces.{{cite web|title=Cast Lead Offensive in Numbers: Statistical Report on: Persons Killed and Property Damaged or Destroyed in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Occupation Forces during Operation Cast Lead (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009)|url=http://www.mezan.org/upload/8941.pdf|publisher=Al Mezan Center for Human Rights|access-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014195154/http://www.mezan.org/upload/8941.pdf|archive-date=14 October 2012|url-status=dead}} According to Amnesty International, the Palestinian fatalities included "some 300" children.{{cite web|title=Operation Cast Lead|url=http://amnesty.ie/node/1482|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=31 January 2013|archive-date=7 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307052045/http://www.amnesty.ie/node/1482|url-status=live}} The Israeli military later released its own figures, stating only 89 children under the age of 16 died.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=137286|work=Jerusalem Post|date=28 March 2009|access-date=22 February 2010|title=IDF releases Cast Lead casualty numbers|archive-date=24 May 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240524212251/https://www.webcitation.org/5niwZTV9K?url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite%3Fcid=1237727552054|url-status=live}}. According to Elihu D. Richter and Yael Stein of Hebrew University, B'Tselem data showed that the overwhelming majority of Palestinian child deaths were male teenagers, suggesting many could have had some role in combat or support for combat.Dan Izenberg, [http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=154982Report slams B'Tselem Cast Lead figures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430224303/https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=154982Report |date=30 April 2020 }}, The Jerusalem Post, 2009-09-16Richter, Elihu D. and Yael Stein. [http://spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=5980 "Comments on B'Tselem's Civilian Casualty Estimates in Operation Cast Lead." Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. 13 September] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630061251/http://spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=5980 |date=30 June 2013 }}

Studies conducted by Israel's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism indicate that 96 percent of Palestinian fatalities during the Second Intifada were male and that the vast majority of child casualties were teenagers. Israeli fatalities do not show any great inclination in regard to gender or age.[https://www.britannica.com/topic/intifada#ref1261889 The first intifada] Retrieved 27 February 2024

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that during the 2012 Gaza War, 30 Palestinian children were killed.[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ochaopt_gaza_sitrep_26_11_2011_english.pdf Occupied Palestinian Territories: Escalation in Hostilities in Gaza and southern Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222153110/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ochaopt_gaza_sitrep_26_11_2011_english.pdf |date=22 December 2012 }}, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ("OCHA"), p. 2.The Associated Press (22 November 2012). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20444499 "Gaza and Israel begin to resume normal life after truce"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415130633/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20444499 |date=15 April 2019 }}. BBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2012.

{{multiple image

| align = right

| image1 = 9-years old Israeli boy Osher Twito copes with lost of his leg after Qassam exploded next to him in Sderot Israel.jpg

| width1 = 175

| alt1 =

| caption1 =

| image2 = OrenAlmog.jpg

| width2 = 175

| alt2 =

| caption2 =

| footer = 9-year-old Israeli boy Osher Twito lost his leg after a Palestinian Qassam rocket exploded next to him in the city of Sderot (left) and Oren Almog, who was ten years old at time of the Maxim restaurant suicide bombing, was blinded by the blast, lost two of his grandparents, his father, his brother and his cousin.

}}

About 70 percent of the Israeli children hit were killed in Palestinian suicide bombings.{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} Others were killed in shootings and attacks on cars and buses. In addition, several rapes, kidnappings, and individual murders of Israeli children and teenagers have occurred.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUthqHRF-m8C&q=bayit+vegan+border&pg=PA61|title=Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War|last=Morris|first=Benny|author-link=Benny Morris|access-date=10 November 2012|isbn=978-0-19-829262-3|page=61|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162341/https://books.google.com/books?id=YUthqHRF-m8C&q=bayit+vegan+border&pg=PA61|url-status=live}}Morris, Benny (1993) Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956. Arab infiltration, Israeli retaliation, and the countdown to the Suez War. Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-827850-0}}. Page 203.Ronen Bergman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NkxZcHL1xdYC&pg=PA215 The secret war with Iran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219051833/https://books.google.com/books?id=NkxZcHL1xdYC&pg=PA215 |date=19 December 2016 }}, page 215{{cite book|title=Terror: how Israel has coped and what America can|date=June 2007|isbn=978-0-253-34918-7|publisher=Indiana University Press|author=Leonard A. Cole|page=[https://archive.org/details/terrorhowisraelh0000cole/page/170 170] |url=https://archive.org/details/terrorhowisraelh0000cole|url-access=registration|quote=Tekoa stoning of Israeli teens.|access-date=28 November 2012|author-link=Leonard A. Cole}}{{cite book|title=Dilemmas of Weak States: Africa And Transnational Terrorism In The Twenty-First Century (Contemporary Perspectives on Developing Societies)|date=30 October 2004|isbn=978-0-7546-4200-8|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|author=Tatah Mentan|pages=90–91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLvQklv5690C&q=+%22Kobi+Mandell%22&pg=PA90|access-date=28 November 2012|archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162342/https://books.google.com/books?id=nLvQklv5690C&q=+%22Kobi+Mandell%22&pg=PA90|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Palestinians Kill Baby Girl in West Bank |date=27 March 2001 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/world/palestinians-kill-baby-girl-in-west-bank.html |last1=Sontag |first1=Deborah |access-date=18 February 2017 |archive-date=21 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421000702/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/world/palestinians-kill-baby-girl-in-west-bank.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=2 Jewish Boys Stoned To Death |date=10 May 2001 |work=The Post and Courier |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YppIAAAAIBAJ&pg=1428,3403906 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Other Israeli children were killed in home invasions, some of them in their own beds or their parents' beds.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4078506,00.html|title=Palestinian baby killer: Proud of what I did|first=Ahiya|last=Raved|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=5 June 2011|access-date=6 October 2012|archive-date=6 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106084546/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4078506,00.html|url-status=live}}[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-tv-airs-show-praising-fogel-family-murderer-1.409858 Palestinian TV airs show praising Fogel family murderer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013011942/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-tv-airs-show-praising-fogel-family-murderer-1.409858 |date=13 October 2012 }}, Haaretz, 29 January 2012{{cite news |last=Sanders |first=Edmund |title=Brutal West Bank killings shock Israel, stir fears of renewed violence |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-settlement-killings-20110313,0,3329690.story |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=13 March 2011 |access-date=6 October 2012 |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162346/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-mar-13-la-fg-israel-settlement-killings-20110313-story.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/fogel-suspects.php|title=Fogel Family Murderers Arrested|work=World Jewish Daily|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306225108/http://worldjewishdaily.com/fogel-suspects.php|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

According to Amnesty International, between 2000 and 2004 during the First Intifada, "more than 100 Israeli children... [were] killed and hundreds of others injured in suicide bombings, shootings and other attacks carried out by Palestinian armed groups in Israel and in the Occupied Territories."{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/002/2004/en/ |title=Amnesty International Library Index |date=20 November 2004 |access-date=21 November 2018 |archive-date=22 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122054932/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/002/2004/en/ |url-status=live }}

Examples include:

• In 2001, a Palestinian sniper opened fire on the Avraham Avino settlement in Hebron from the Palestinian-controlled Abu Sneineh neighborhood. Ten- month-old Shalhevet Pass was shot in the head and killed while sitting in her stroller; her father was wounded.[https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel/hebron-v2.pdf Center of the Storm: A Case Study of Human Rights Abuses in Hebron District] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314151904/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel/hebron-v2.pdf |date=March 14, 2016 }}, Human Rights Watch, 2001, p. 64. {{ISBN|1-56432-260-2}} Israeli leaders said that the sniper deliberately aimed for the baby.{{cite web|url=http://www.education.gov.il/children/page_23.htm |title=Target: Israeli Children |publisher=Israeli Ministry of Education |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023202452/http://www.education.gov.il/children/page_23.htm |archive-date=23 October 2013}}{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}
• The Sbarro restaurant massacre in August 2001 killed 15 Israelis, among them 7 children and a pregnant woman.{{cite web |url=https://www.kerenmalki.org/Press/IrishSBP_Death_of_Innocents.htm |title=The Malki Foundation – Death of Innocents |access-date=26 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006080000/http://www.kerenmalki.org/Press/IrishSBP_Death_of_Innocents.htm |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/aug/10/israel1 'The street was covered with blood and bodies: the dead and the dying'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028232710/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/aug/10/israel1 |date=28 October 2014 }}, The Guardian, 10 August 2001.
• The Yeshivat Beit Yisrael massacre on 2 March 2002, targeting a group of women and children next to a synagogue, resulted in the deaths of seven children and four adults.{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/9-dead-51-hurt-in-jerusalem-bombing-1.51487 |title=9 dead, 51 hurt in Jerusalem bombing |work=Haaretz |access-date=24 October 2012 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924215218/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/9-dead-51-hurt-in-jerusalem-bombing-1.51487 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/focus-jerusalem-s-soft-underbelly-1.51476 |title=Focus / Jerusalem's soft underbelly |work=Haaretz |access-date=24 October 2012 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924221428/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/focus-jerusalem-s-soft-underbelly-1.51476 |url-status=live }} Eight of the dead came from the same family.{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/seven-funerals-for-the-nehmad-family-1.51438 |title=Seven funerals for the Nehmad family |work=Haaretz |access-date=24 October 2012 |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162346/https://www.themarker.com/markets/2001-02-19/ty-article/0000017f-db38-db22-a17f-ffb900d90000 |url-status=live }}
• The 2004 Murder of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters, in which Palestinian militants killed Tali Hatuel, who was eight months pregnant, along with her four daughters: Hila (11), Hadar (9), Roni (7) and Merav (2). After shooting at the vehicle in which Hatuel was driving with her daughters, witnesses said the militants approached the vehicle and shot the occupants repeatedly at close range. An alliance of Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack.* {{cite news|title=Father buries wife, four daughters killed in Gaza ambush|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/father-buries-wife-four-daughters-killed-in-gaza-ambush-1.121211|newspaper=Haaretz|date=2 May 2004|access-date=6 October 2012|archive-date=18 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518102632/http://www.haaretz.com/news/father-buries-wife-four-daughters-killed-in-gaza-ambush-1.121211|url-status=live}}
• {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3679395.stm|title=Gunmen kill Jewish settler family|work=BBC News|access-date=6 October 2012|date=3 May 2004|location=London|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402201703/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3679395.stm|url-status=live}}

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that 8,341 Israelis were injured as a direct result of the conflict between 2001 and 2007 but does not specify how many were minors.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm|title=Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000|work=GxMSDev|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=3 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403024612/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%2BObstacle%2Bto%2BPeace/Palestinian%2Bterror%2Bsince%2B2000/Victims%2Bof%2BPalestinian%2BViolence%2Band%2BTerrorism%2Bsinc.htm|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} Frequent rocket fire has also caused many injuries in the post-Intifada period.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/terrorism-+obstacle+to+peace/hamas+war+against+israel/palestinian_ceasefire_violations_since_end_operation_cast_lead.htm|title=Rocket fire from Gaza and Palestinian ceasefire violations after Operation Cast Lead (Jan 2009)|work=GxMSDev|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=27 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927014215/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Palestinian_ceasefire_violations_since_end_Operation_Cast_Lead.htm|url-status=live}} Permanent disability among children has resulted, including blindness,A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism. By Giulio Meotti, (publisher?). p.187{{Verify source|date=April 2013}} paralysis, brain damage, and loss of limbs.{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} A 2003 study by Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel concluded, "Analysis of the injuries sustained by the 160 children hospitalized after these events indicates that most were caused by blasts and penetration by foreign objects. Sixty-five percent of the children had multiple injuries, and the proportion of critical to fatal injuries was high (18%)."

The rate of Israeli casualties in total declined following the construction of the West Bank Barrier; suicide bombing rates fell as potential bombers were thwarted before entering Israeli territory.

File:Samar - Day 18.PNG

File:Boy and soldier in front of Israeli wall.jpg]]

The first recorded incident of Israel Defense Forces killing Palestinian children was in November 1950 when three Palestinian children from the village of Yalo, aged 8, 10 and 12, were shot near Dayr Ayyub in the Latrun salient. According to adult witnesses, "only one man fired at them with a stun-gun but none of the detachment attempted to interfere."Benny Morris, (1993) Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956. {{ISBN|0-19-829262-7}}, Oxford University Press p 181 In February 1953, one of five Arab shepherds shot in al-Burj was 13 years old.Benny Morris, (1993) Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956 {{ISBN|0-19-829262-7}}, Oxford University Press p 184 During the 1952 Beit Jala raid, four children ranging in age from 6 to 14 were killed by machine gun fire.{{Cite book|author=Hutchison, E. H.|title=Violent Truce – A Military Observer Looks at the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1951–1955|pages=12–16|url=https://archive.org/details/violenttrucearab006617mbp|year=1956|publisher=The Devin - Adair Company}}

According to Amira Hass, 54 minors were brought to UNRWA clinics with head wounds from August 1989 to August 1993.Amira Hass, Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in a Land under Siege (Owl Books, 2000) {{ISBN|0-8050-5740-4}}. The Association of Israeli and Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights (PHR-Israel) estimates that a child under the age of six was shot in the head every two weeks during the First Intifada.Association of Israeli and Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights (PHR-Israel), Intifada-Related Head Injuries and Rehabilitation of the Head-Injured, Tel-Aviv, July 1995

Nuphar Ishay-Krien, a social welfare officer during the First Intifada, worked with two mechanized infantry companies in the southern Gaza Strip, collecting testimony from soldiers. In one instance, a soldier stated that during a patrol, his commander grabbed a 4-year-old boy, broke his arm and leg, and stepped on his stomach multiple times. When asked why, the commander replied, "These kids need to be killed from the day they are born. When a commander does that, it becomes legit."{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2024-12-23/ty-article/.premium/when-you-enter-gaza-you-are-god-inside-the-minds-of-idf-soldiers-who-commit-war-crimes/00000193-f043-d354-a59f-ff670ac80000 |title='When You Leave Israel and Enter Gaza, You Are God': Inside the Minds of IDF Soldiers Who Commit War Crimes |work=Haaretz |date=23 December 2024 |access-date=24 December 2024 |archive-date=23 December 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241223185205/https://www.haaretz.com/2024-12-23/ty-article/.premium/when-you-enter-gaza-you-are-god-inside-the-minds-of-idf-soldiers-who-commit-war-crimes/00000193-f043-d354-a59f-ff670ac80000 |url-status=dead }}

According to the Defence for Children International (DCI),{{cite web|url=http://www.dci-pal.org/|title=Palestine Section of Defence for Children International|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=3 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503103814/http://dci-pal.org/|url-status=live}} of the "595 children killed [29 September 2000 to 30 June 2004] during the Second Intifada, 383, or 64.4%, died as a result of Israeli air and ground attacks, during assassination attempts, or when Israeli soldiers opened fire randomly" and "212 children, or 35.6%, died as a result of injuries sustained during clashes with Israeli military forces."[http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/reports/2004/sep28.pdf Status of Palestinian Children's Rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051017060422/http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/reports/2004/sep28.pdf |date=17 October 2005 }} Defence for Children International/Palestine Section The DCI estimates that from 1 January 2001 until 1 May 2003, at least 4,816 Palestinian children were injured, with the majority of injuries resulting from Israeli army activity while the children were going about their normal activities.[http://www.dci-pal.org/english/Display.cfm?DocId=169&CategoryId=2 Breakdown of Palestinian Child Injuries (1 January – April 2003)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216234520/http://www.dci-pal.org/english/Display.cfm?DocId=169&CategoryId=2 |date=16 December 2010 }} 10 May 2003 [http://www.dci-pal.org/english/Display.cfm?DocId=167&CategoryId=2 Breakdown of Palestinian Child Injuries, 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217001450/http://www.dci-pal.org/english/Display.cfm?DocId=167&CategoryId=2 |date=17 December 2010 }} 14 February 2003 [http://www.dci-pal.org/english/Display.cfm?DocId=161&CategoryId=2 Breakdown of Palestinian Child Deaths and Injuries in 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007074825/http://www.dci-pal.org/english/Display.cfm?DocId=161&CategoryId=2 |date=7 October 2007 }} 30 August 2001. The Defence for Children International/Palestine Section[https://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA57/A57_ID1-en.pdf World health organisation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414100944/http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA57/A57_ID1-en.pdf |date=14 April 2008 }} Health conditions of, and assistance to, the Arab population in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine 3 May 2004 A57/INF.DOC./1

Amnesty International accused Israeli forces of inadequately investigating killings of children during the Second Intifada,[https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/005/2002/en/ KILLING THE FUTURE: Children in the line of fire.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122071808/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/005/2002/en/ |date=22 November 2018 }} AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002, 30 September 2002. Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority. while also condemning the killings of Israeli children by suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinians.

During the Gaza War, a three-week armed conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants during the winter of 2008–2009, an "unprecedented" number of children were killed or injured, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights which listed 313 killed.Bryan Saari,Holy Land Conversations: A Journey Through Palestine's Back Door, Wheatmark, Inc., 2011, [https://books.google.com/books?id=J5LZj3d15U0C&dq=Palestinian+children+killed+Gaza+Cast+Lead&pg=PA203 pp 203–204] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219064214/https://books.google.com/books?id=J5LZj3d15U0C&pg=PA203&dq=Palestinian+children+killed+Gaza+Cast+Lead&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rYDBUI7kKtTq0QGjw4DQAQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Palestinian%20children%20killed%20Gaza%20Cast%20Lead&f=false |date=19 December 2016 }}, {{ISBN|1-60494-273-8}}, 9781604942736. The Israel Defense Forces said that 89 "non-combatants" under the age of 18 died.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=137286|work=Jerusalem Post|date=28 March 2009|access-date=22 February 2010|archive-date=25 January 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110125200625/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1237727552054&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull|title=IDF releases Cast Lead casualty numbers|url-status=dead}}. B'Tselem reported that 318 minors below the age of 18 were killed.*{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/Download/20090909_Cast_Lead_Fatalities_Eng.pdf |title=B'Tselem's investigation of fatalities in Operation Cast Lead |publisher=B'Tselem |date=9 September 2009 |access-date=21 February 2010 |archive-date=24 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100224001932/http://www.btselem.org/Download/20090909_Cast_Lead_Fatalities_Eng.pdf |url-status=dead }}

• [http://www.btselem.org/english/Gaza_Strip/Castlead_Operation.asp Operation Cast Lead, 27 Dec. '08 to 18 Jan. '09] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608231851/http://www.btselem.org/english/gaza_strip/castlead_operation.asp |date=8 June 2011 }}, B'Tselem, 27 December 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2010. B'Tselem's numbers were disputed.Dan Izenberg, [http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1251804580143 Report slams B'Tselem Cast Lead figures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115095457/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1251804580143 |date=15 January 2011 }}, The Jerusalem Post, 2009-09-16 When the United Nations attempted an investigation of high civilian deaths as a possible war crime, Israelis refused to cooperate.Richard Spencer, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/6162984/Israels-Gaza-invasion-killed-more-than-250-children.html Israel's Gaza invasion killed more than 250 children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322230756/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/6162984/Israels-Gaza-invasion-killed-more-than-250-children.html |date=22 March 2014 }}, The Daily Telegraph, 9 September 2009.

During the November 2012 Gaza War, 30 children reportedly were killed.{{cite news|agency=The Associated Press|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20444499|title=Gaza and Israel begin to resume normal life after truce|work=BBC News|date=22 November 2012|access-date=22 November 2012|archive-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415130633/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20444499|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-18932-Israeli-strikes-kill-23-in-bloodiest-day-for-Gaza|title=Israeli strikes kill 23 in bloodiest day for Gaza|publisher=Thenews.com.pk|date=13 November 2012|access-date=20 November 2012|archive-date=8 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108192346/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-18932-Israeli-strikes-kill-23-in-bloodiest-day-for-Gaza|url-status=live}}

Other examples of casualties include:

• Killing of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah in September 2000 as his father tried to shield him from bullets became a defining image of the Second Intifada, and was compared to other iconic images of children under attack, such as the boy in the Warsaw ghetto (1943).{{cite news|date=2 October 2000|title=A Young Symbol of Mideast Violence|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/02/world/a-young-symbol-of-mideast-violence.html|access-date=19 May 2021|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=3 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703071616/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/02/world/a-young-symbol-of-mideast-violence.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=21 May 2013|title=The killing of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Durrah in Gaza became the defining image of the second intifada. Only Israel claims it was all a fake|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/killing-12-year-old-mohammed-al-durrah-gaza-became-defining-image-second-intifada-only-israel-claims-it-was-all-fake-8624311.html|access-date=19 May 2021|newspaper=The Independent|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518221001/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/killing-12-year-old-mohammed-al-durrah-gaza-became-defining-image-second-intifada-only-israel-claims-it-was-all-fake-8624311.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=10 June 2008|title=Les médias, pouvoir intouchable|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/debats/2008/06/10/01005-20080610ARTFIG00634-les-mediaspouvoir-intouchable.php|access-date=19 May 2021|newspaper=Le Figaro|archive-date=30 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330010609/http://www.lefigaro.fr/debats/2008/06/10/01005-20080610ARTFIG00634-les-mediaspouvoir-intouchable.php|url-status=live}}
• In November 2000, 14-year-old Faris Odeh was shot and killed while clashing with Israeli troops at the Karni crossing.{{cite news|last=Hockstader|first=Lee|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=11 December 2000|page=A18|title=Gaza Gains a Martyr, Parents Lose a Son; Slain Youth Hailed As Palestinian Hero While Couple Mourns|access-date=10 November 2007|url=http://www.1worldcommunication.org/gothiswish.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811104641/http://1worldcommunication.org/gothiswish.htm|archive-date=11 August 2015}}
• In 2001, an 11-year-old boy, Khalil al-Mughrabi, was killed by tank fire, and two others were injured.[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/world/fighting-in-gaza-kills-a-boy-and-clashes-in-west-bank-wound-4.html Fighting in Gaza Kills a Boy and Clashes in West Bank Wound 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518144714/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/world/fighting-in-gaza-kills-a-boy-and-clashes-in-west-bank-wound-4.html |date=18 May 2017 }}. The New York Times. 8 July 2001 Al-Mughrabi had been playing football in a field a half-mile away.[http://www.deseretnews.com/article/874128/Are-Israelis-off-hook-in-slaying.html?pg=all Are Israelis off hook in slaying?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064436/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/874128/Are-Israelis-off-hook-in-slaying.html?pg=all |date=4 March 2016 }} Associated Press. 13 November 2011Greenburg, Joel. [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/13/international/middleeast/13ISRA.html Death of a Child: How Israel's Army Responds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306172454/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/13/international/middleeast/13ISRA.html |date=6 March 2016 }} The New York Times. 13 November 2001
• During the 2007 assassination of Salah Shahade, a member of Hamas, several civilians were killed, including eight children.Yuval Yoaz, [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/904552.html "State commission to examine civilian deaths in 2002 Shahade assassination"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430204450/https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/904552.html |date=30 April 2020 }}, Haaretz, 19 September 2007
• In December 2008, two Palestinian school girls were killed in Gaza when a Qassam rocket launched by militants fell short of its Israeli target and into a house.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/palestinian-rockets-kill-2-schoolgirls-in-gaza |publisher=Fox News |title=Palestinian Rockets Kill 2 Schoolgirls in Gaza |date=26 December 2008 |access-date=12 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021151915/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473066,00.html |archive-date=21 October 2012 |url-status=live }}

According to a Palestinian NGO, the Israeli bombings of Gaza resulted in the loss of one child's life every 15 minutes. This alarming statistic sheds light on the devastating impact the ongoing war has had on children. Since the commencement of Israel's bombing campaign, over 100 children have tragically lost their lives each day.[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/19/israels-war-against-gazas-children-explained Israel's 'war against Gaza's children' explained] Retrieved 10 March 2024

As of 5 April 2024, approximately 14,500 Palestinian children had been killed in the Gaza war.{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel - reported impact {{!}} Day 181 |url=https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-reported-impact-day-181 |website=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory |access-date=11 April 2024 |language=en |date=5 April 2024}} In that period, military operations by Israel have also surged in the occupied West Bank, making last year the deadliest year on record for children there. A total of 124 children were killed in 2023, according to UNICEF - 85 of whom were reported killed after 7 October. So far in 2024, 36 Palestinian children have been killed in the territory by Israeli settlers or the military.[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw07wgrwzywo Isobel Yeung, Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat, Israel accused of possible war crime over killing of West Bank boy, BBC news, 2 May 2024].

• Aleksei Lupalu, 16, of Ukraine was killed in the Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing on 2 June 2001, along with 20 other civilians.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2001/Alexei+Lupalo.htm|title=Alexei Lupalo|work=GxMSDev|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=24 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424234407/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%2BObstacle%2Bto%2BPeace/Memorial/2001/Alexei%2BLupalo.htm|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} Hamas claimed responsibility.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29israel.html|title=In Hamas's Overt Hatred, Many Israelis See Hope|last=Fisher|first=Ian|date=29 January 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=5 December 2012|archive-date=11 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111022312/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29israel.html|url-status=live}}
• Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New Square, New York, was killed in the Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing on 19 August 2003 along with 22 other civilians, of whom 2 were foreign citizens.{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/after-praying-for-a-seventh-child-nava-s-baby-died-in-her-arms-1.97835|title=After praying for a seventh child, Nava's baby died in her arms|date=21 August 2003|work=Haaretz|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924215253/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/after-praying-for-a-seventh-child-nava-s-baby-died-in-her-arms-1.97835|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzouWqFtv0AC&q=shmuel+hanavi&pg=PA45|title=Terror: How Israel Has Coped and What America Can Learn|access-date=26 April 2015|isbn=978-0253000019|last1=Cole|first1=Leonard A.|date=2007-05-23|publisher=Indiana University Press |archive-date=24 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162343/https://books.google.com/books?id=BzouWqFtv0AC&q=shmuel+hanavi&pg=PA45|url-status=live}} Over 130 were injured, and seven fatalities were children.[http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/19/jerusalem.bomb.scene.ap/index.html Israel shocked at child toll of Jerusalem bus bombing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224060750/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/19/jerusalem.bomb.scene.ap/index.html |date=24 February 2007 }} CNN, 20 August 2003 Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3165279.stm Bus bomb carnage in Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305061601/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3165279.stm |date=5 March 2013 }}, BBC News, 20 August 2003.{{cite news | first=Roger | last=Hardy | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3170895.stm | title=Analysis: End of roadmap? | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040606233612/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3170895.stm |archivedate=6 June 2004 | publisher=BBC News | date=21 August 2003}}
• Daniel Wultz, aged 16, of Weston, Florida, USA, was killed in the 2006 Tel Aviv shawarma restaurant bombing.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2006/Tel+Aviv+April/Daniel+Wultz.htm|title=Daniel Cantor Wultz|work=GxMSDev|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=25 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225044414/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2006/Tel+Aviv+April/Daniel+Wultz.htm|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} 10 other civilians were killed, of whom seven were Israeli and three were from other countries, and over 70 were injured. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12351695|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105185701/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12351695/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/suicide-bomber-kills-nine-tel-aviv/|url-status=live|archive-date=5 November 2012|title=Bomber kills 9 in Tel Aviv |date=17 April 2006 |publisher=MSNBC|access-date=26 April 2015}}
• In March 2012, a French Muslim attacked the Ozar Hatorah Jewish day school, later stating he did it to avenge Palestinians.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9161159/What-are-the-real-lessons-to-be-learned-from-the-Toulouse-killings.html What are the real lessons to be learned from the Toulouse killings?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826083546/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9161159/What-are-the-real-lessons-to-be-learned-from-the-Toulouse-killings.html |date=26 August 2016 }}. The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 December 2012.{{cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16192930 |title=Siege of French Gunman into Second Day |publisher=Sky News |date=22 March 2012 |access-date=5 December 2012 |archive-date=4 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404235908/http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16192930 |url-status=live }} He shot and killed a Rabbi who taught there and his two sons, Aryeh, aged 6, and Gabriel, aged 3, as well as 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17446999 |title=Toulouse school dead flown to Jerusalem for burial |date=20 March 2012 |work=BBC News |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922025532/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17446999 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|last=Govan|first=Fiona|title=Toulouse shooting: heartbreaking detail of attack that shocked France and Israel|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9156459/Toulouse-shooting-heartbreaking-detail-of-attack-that-shocked-France-and-Israel.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=5 December 2012|date=20 March 2012|archive-date=30 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630060149/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9156459/Toulouse-shooting-heartbreaking-detail-of-attack-that-shocked-France-and-Israel.html|url-status=live}} and severely injured 17-year-old Bryan Bijaoui.Maiberg, Emanuel. (22 March 2012) [http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-teenager-who-tried-to-save-toulouse-victim-still-hospitalized/ French teen who tried to save Toulouse victim still hospitalized] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424101353/http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-teenager-who-tried-to-save-toulouse-victim-still-hospitalized/ |date=24 April 2012 }}. The Times of Israel. Retrieved on 5 December 2012.

A year into the Gaza war, 20,000 Palestinian children had been orphaned, abandoned or separated from their parents. In a number of camps surveyed, 60% have developed stammers or other impediments to communicating. 40% of families took into their care children from other families. 85% of parents stated that for at least one day, their children had gone without food. 346,000 under 5 required supplementary food and nutrients. 50,000 suffered from acute malnutrition. On average, schoolchildren in the Strip have lost the equivalent of 2 years of education, and there has been an increase of 20% in the number of 10-year-olds who cannot read a basic text.Gordon Brown, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/08/hearts-breaking-children-gaza-tomorrow-peaceToday, our hearts are breaking for the children of Gaza. Tomorrow, we must give them peace] The Guardian 8 October 2024.

Israeli Professor Edward Kaufman[http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/about/people/profile.aspx?id=11 Profile of Professor Edward Kaufman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220220141/http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/about/people/profile.aspx?id=11 |date=20 December 2013}}, University of Maryland website, accessed 22 April 2013. has written that Israel's faith in military superiority, its use of "extrajudicial executions" or "targeted elimination" of suspects that often result in the deaths of innocents, has exacerbated the conflict. He writes it has resulted in the fact that "Israeli schoolchildren are among the most violent in the world, a phenomenon believed to be the result of force being an accepted societal means of dispute resolution. An astonishing 43 percent of Israeli children have admitted to bullying others, while one in four Israeli boys admitted to carrying a knife to school for protection. It is only to be expected that Israel's use of overwhelming force to deal with the Palestinians has had a trickle-down effect on society. The culture of violence prevalent in Israel has had a dramatic impact on the most impressionable members of the community: children."Edward Kaufman, "Merging the Human Rights Dimension into Peace Making – Is it good for the Jews", Chapter 9 of Elizabeth Matthews, The Israel–Palestine Conflict: Parallel Discourses, Taylor & Francis, 2011, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-ubfEsbawzoC&pg=PA179 p. 179] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219083609/https://books.google.com/books?id=-ubfEsbawzoC&pg=PA179 |date=19 December 2016}}, access date 22 April 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-136-88432-0}}

In 2012, a joint study of Palestinian, Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Israeli children found that exposure to political conflict and violence contributed to an increase in aggressive behavior. According to the study, "Palestinian children were at the greatest risk for exposure to violence across settings as well as at the highest level of aggressive behavior in comparison to the two other groups. Males were uniformly at greater risk than females for all forms of exposure to violence as well as more aggressive."{{cite journal |pmc=3505223 |pmid=22906188 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01848.x |volume=84 |issue=1 |title=Exposure to violence across the social ecosystem and the development of aggression: a test of ecological theory in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict |journal=Child Dev |pages=163–77 |last1=Boxer |first1=P |last2=Rowell Huesmann |first2=L |last3=Dubow |first3=EF |last4=Landau |first4=SF |last5=Gvirsman |first5=SD |last6=Shikaki |first6=K |last7=Ginges |first7=J |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96242/1/cdev1848.pdf |year=2013 |hdl=2027.42/96242 |access-date=4 November 2018 |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162345/https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/96242/cdev1848.pdf;jsessionid=260A97FE5BA24F4D51D2DEC23C610D26?sequence=1 |url-status=live}}

According to UNRWA, as of 10 March, there are over 187,000 individuals who have recently been displaced in Gaza. A significant number of these individuals, including numerous children, have sought refuge in UNRWA schools. Unfortunately, some of the facilities providing shelter to these displaced families, such as schools, have also suffered damage.[https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/pain-suffering-engulfs-children-state-palestine-israel Pain & suffering engulfs children] Retrieved 10 March 2024

Caitlin Procter, a researcher at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding in Geneva, expressed that the psychological impact on the related children is unparalleled due to their homes being bombed. They endured extreme conditions of freezing cold and starvation, and many were left to fend for themselves in the streets. This has resulted in an overwhelming situation where even mental health experts for children in Gaza are feeling completely inundated and in need of assistance. In Rafah, located in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave, where nearly 1.3 million displaced Gazans reside, Karyn Beattie, team leader of the NGO Save the Children in Gaza, observed that "children are everywhere in the streets." Some of these children, who are not yet teenagers, have taken on the responsibility of providing for their families. They carry heavy containers of water or sell food aid they have received on the streets, often using the proceeds to purchase other essential items.[https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/04/05/israel-s-war-in-gaza-has-already-proved-particularly-devastating-for-children_6667509_4.html Israel's war in Gaza is particularly devastating for children] Retrieved 6 April 2024 The mental anguish experienced by children who have managed to survive, along with the complete destruction of essential infrastructure such as residences, educational institutions, and medical facilities, has severely impacted their prospects for the future.[https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-10000-children-killed-nearly-100-days-war Gaza: 10,000 children killed in nearly 100 days of war] Retrieved 10 March 2024

UNICEF expressed sorrow over the impact of war on children, highlighting the prevalence of flashbacks, nightmares, and agoraphobia among the young residents of the Gaza Strip. A study conducted by the organization revealed that 88% of children in the area are suffering from fear and trauma.[https://www.savethechildren.net/news/children-are-paying-heaviest-price-violence-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory-escalates Exposure to Violence and Instability among Children in Palestine] Retrieved 10 March 2024[https://www.humanium.org/en/palestine/ Realizing Children's Rights in Palestine] Retrieved 10 March 2024

Severe winter conditions pose a significant risk to the welfare of the population, especially children and those already grappling with illness and malnourishment. In the midst of assaults by the Israel Defense Forces, displaced Palestinians who fled their homes with minimal belongings face additional hardships during winters in Gaza. With the besieged enclave preparing for a harsh winter, Norwegian physician Mads Gilbert has issued a warning regarding the heightened danger of fatal hypothermia among the already vulnerable residents. The doctor emphasized that hypothermia weakens the body, suppresses the immune system, and increases the risk of excessive bleeding in the event of an injury. It is a perilous trap that must be taken seriously.{{cite web |last1=Zouiten |first1=Sara |title=Gazans Face Looming Winter Crisis with Growing Threat of Deadly Hypothermia |date=5 January 2024 |access-date=3 April 2024 |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2024/01/359978/gazans-face-looming-winter-crisis-with-growing-threat-of-deadly-hypothermia}}

File:Ben Gurion Beer Ora 1957.jpg visiting a Gadna base in Be'er Ora (1957). Gadna is a one-week Israeli military program to prepare youth for their mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces or Border Police.]]

Gadna is an Israeli pre-army military program that prepares high school students for their mandatory service. Gadna was created before the Israeli declaration of independence. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, trainees served as combatants. Until 1990, Gadna focused on instilling patriotic values in Israeli youth and encouraging the immigration of youth to Israel. Nowadays, the program concentrates on increasing motivation to serve in the Army.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Gadna-pre-army-program-tries-to-restore-IDFs-appeal|title=Gadna pre-army program tries to restore IDF's appeal|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=13 April 2008 |access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=9 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709034246/http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Gadna-pre-army-program-tries-to-restore-IDFs-appeal|url-status=live}} As of 2007, an estimated minority of 16,000 to 19,000 11th-grade pupils annually engage in squad-sized operations, night treks and shooting, with the promise of rewards for excellence when the youth join the Israel Defense Forces. Educators have criticized the program as "overly militaristic." The one-week-long program was revised in 2007 to include lessons in combat doctrine, the purity of arms and ethics in combat.{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/807850.html |title=New IDF Gadna youth program criticized as overly militaristic|work=Haaretz|author=Kashti, Or|date=1 January 2007|access-date=15 August 2008|archive-date=17 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717002324/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/807850.html|url-status=live}}

{{multiple image

| align = left

| image1 = Beersheva kindergarten after rocket attack from Gaza.jpg

| width1 = 100

| alt1 =

| caption1 =

| image2 = Orphanschoolmosque.jpg

| width2 = 150

| alt2 =

| caption2 =

| footer = Israeli kindergarten after rocket attack from Gaza (left) and one of 18 Gaza schools destroyed by Israel in the Gaza War (right).

}}

Schooling has been disrupted for both Israeli and Palestinian children. Israeli children at or on the way to school have been killed by Palestinian militants, as in the 1970 Avivim school bus massacre that killed nine children and injured 25, the 1974 Ma'alot massacre which resulted in the death of 22 elementary school children, the 1992 murder of Helena Rapp,{{cite web|url=http://mobile.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/11/26/two_state/index1.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710153026/http://mobile.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/11/26/two_state/index1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 July 2012|title=The real two-state solution|author=Aluf Benn|work=Salon.com|access-date=26 April 2015}}{{Cite web |url=http://archive.jta.org/article/1992/05/26/2876900/arab-who-killed-15yearold-girl-captured-just-as-mobs-converge |title=Arab Who Killed 15-year-old Girl Captured Just As Mobs Converge-- |access-date=17 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323235941/http://archive.jta.org/article/1992/05/26/2876900/arab-who-killed-15yearold-girl-captured-just-as-mobs-converge |archive-date=23 March 2012 |url-status=dead}} the 1997 Island of Peace massacre where seven school girls on a class field trip were shot and killed,{{cite news |title=Jordan minister: Release soldier who shot Israelis |url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=208236&R=R1 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |agency=Associated Press |date=15 February 2011 |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022172718/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=208236&R=R1 |url-status=live }} the 2002 killing of three teenagers at the Hitzim yeshiva high school in Itamar,{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2002/2/Gilad+Stiglitz.htm|title=Gilad Stiglitz|work=In Memory of the Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism in Israel|date=28 May 2002|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|access-date=13 March 2011|archive-date=18 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121218161259/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2002/2/Gilad+Stiglitz.htm|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} and the 2008 Mercaz HaRav massacre resulting in 8 children killed and 11 injured.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/world/middleeast/08mideast.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin|title=8 Burials for Jerusalem Seminary's Dead|work=The New York Times|first=Isabel|last=Kershner|author2=Steven Erlanger|date=8 March 2008|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809021448/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/world/middleeast/08mideast.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin|url-status=live}}

Schools throughout southern Israel are closed when rocket fire from Gaza becomes intense, including those in major cities such as Beersheba and Ashdod.*[http://www.timesofisrael.com/iaf-hits-two-terror-targets-in-gaza/ Following rocket attacks, many Netivot students stay at home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220063501/http://www.timesofisrael.com/iaf-hits-two-terror-targets-in-gaza/ |date=20 December 2012}}, Times of Israel, 14 March 2012

• [http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-4047064,00.html Rocket fire on Israel continues; IDF attacks in Gaza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162347/https://www.ynetnews.com/category/13341 |date=24 June 2022}}, Ynet, 24 March 2011
• {{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/school-canceled-in-beersheba-following-overnight-rocket-attack/ |title=School canceled in Beersheba and Ashdod following overnight rocket attacks |work=The Times of Israel |date=21 October 2012 |access-date=9 September 2012 |author1=Davidovitch, Joshua |author2=Friedman, Ron |archive-date=10 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910090023/http://www.timesofisrael.com/school-canceled-in-beersheba-following-overnight-rocket-attack/ |url-status=live}} Israeli authorities have reported incidents in which schools were damaged and school buses destroyed by Qassam rockets and mortars.*{{cite news |title=Qassam hits kindergarten; two children lightly wounded |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282603,00.html |publisher=Ynet |date=28 July 2006 |access-date=23 October 2012 |archive-date=18 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018122029/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3282603,00.html |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3434446,00.html |title=Qassam lands in Sderot kindergarten |publisher=Ynet |date=6 August 2007 |access-date=22 October 2012 |archive-date=10 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010044224/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3434446,00.html |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |title=Student killed in Negev college as Qassam barrage intensifies |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/958928.html |work=Haaretz |date=28 February 2008 |access-date=22 October 2012 |archive-date=23 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123042024/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/958928.html |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |title=Rocket lands near school in Ashkelon |publisher=Ynet |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3542108,00.html |date=12 May 2008 |access-date=22 October 2012 |archive-date=6 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106154349/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3542108,00.html |url-status=live}}
• [https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gqtqFao4oAVqHfSQvk1Nji_6tTDA Gaza mortar narrowly misses Israel kindergarten: army] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911085349/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gqtqFao4oAVqHfSQvk1Nji_6tTDA |date=11 September 2010}}, AFP 8 September 2010
• [http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=187532 Mortar shell hits near school 30 minutes before class] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021190952/http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=187532 |date=21 October 2012}}, Jerusalem Post, 8 September 2010
• [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/school-bus-attack-may-spark-gaza-war/story-e6frg6so-1226036217156 School bus attack may spark Gaza war] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014062436/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/school-bus-attack-may-spark-gaza-war/story-e6frg6so-1226036217156 |date=14 October 2014 }}, The Australian 9 April 2011
• [http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23435/Default.aspx Gaza rocket hits Israeli kindergarten] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019193817/http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23435/Default.aspx |date=19 October 2012}}, Israel Today, 17–10–2102
• Yaakov Lappin (16 November 2012). [http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=291954 "Gaza terrorists fire two rockets at Tel Aviv".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115162200/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=291954 |date=15 November 2012}} The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
• [http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=308416 Police find rocket remains at Sderot kindergarten] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404202020/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=308416 |date=4 April 2013}}, Jerusalem Post, 4 February 2013

File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Children in Town Under Fire by Rockets from Gaza (2).jpg]]

Israel has closed schools in the West Bank for months during periods of conflict. In 1989, 200,000 students were kept out of class from January to July.Jackson Diehl, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163438/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1202692.html Long-Closed West Bank Schools Reopen; First Day of Classes Quiet as Students Try to Catch Up], The Washington Post, 23 July 1989. During the Israeli curfews imposed in 2002, teachers and students created makeshift schools in halls, living rooms and alleys so students would not have to travel by car or bus to get to school.Ilene R. Prusher, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163438/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-91760109.html Palestinians defy curfew to attend classes: Three weeks into school year, Israel keeps West Bank closed for security], The Christian Science Monitor, 19 September 2002. Israel's separation barrier has separated some students from their schools, leading to long waits at checkpoints.Greg Myre, [http://www.highbeam.com/ West Bank Village Residents Want Peace After Division] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020331041952/http://highbeam.com/ |date=31 March 2002 }}, International Herald Tribune, 17 November 2006. In 2008, Israel closed two charity schools for needy children because Israel suspected they were tied to Hamas.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163438/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D92FHGV01.html West Bank charities closed for alleged Hamas ties], Associated Press, 10 August 2008. Schools in Gaza also close during clashes, as during the November 2012 Gaza War.{{cite news |title=Gaza children return to school after Israeli offensive, share war experiences in classrooms |publisher=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/gaza-children-return-to-school-after-israeli-offensive-share-war-experiences-in-classrooms/ |date=24 November 2012 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=29 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129150847/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/24/gaza-children-return-to-school-after-israeli-offensive-share-war-experiences-in/ |url-status=live}}

Israeli weapon strikes in Gaza have destroyed or damaged Palestinian schools. Ninety-three schools were shelled in 2000–2001.Emma Jane Kirby, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1658271.stm UN urges protection for Mid-East children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313133707/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1658271.stm |date=13 March 2014}}, BBC, 15 November 2001. During the three-week Gaza War, Israeli airstrikes destroyed 18 schools and damaged 280, including United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools.{{cite news |title=UNRWA responds to Israel TV's Gaza war claims |publisher=Ma'an |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=532419 |date=29 October 2012}}Tim McGirk, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090114094852/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1870087,00.html U.N.: No Hamas Fighters in Bombed Gaza School], Time magazine, 7 January 2009. Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip prohibited the import of school supplies[https://www.foxnews.com/world/israel-expected-to-ease-gaza-land-blockade-in-coming-days-keep-naval-restrictions-in-place/ Israel expected to ease Gaza land blockade in coming days, keep naval restrictions in place], Associated Press, 16 June 2010 and school construction materials into Gaza. In 2011, after months of negotiations, Israel allowed in enough material to build 18 new schools.Ethan Bronner, [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/middleeast/22gaza.html?_r=0 Israel to Allow Building Cargo to Enter Gaza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421003401/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/middleeast/22gaza.html?_r=0 |date=21 April 2017}}, The New York Times, 21 June 2011.

Settlers also have disrupted the schooling of children. In 2002, there was one attemptedJason Keyser, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kIkNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iHADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6861,24752&dq=israel+bombed+palestinian-school&hl=en Israel court sentences three Jewish extremists in school bombing plot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163438/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kIkNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iHADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6861,24752&dq=israel+bombed+palestinian-school&hl=en |date=1 February 2016}}, Associated Press, 1 October 2003. and two actual bombings of Palestinian schools by Jewish vigilante groups.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2264149.stm Bomb blast at Palestinian school] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204041753/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2264149.stm |date=4 December 2013}}, BBC, 17 September 2002.Serge Schmemann, [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/world/bomb-explodes-at-palestinian-school-hurting-5-children.html Bomb Explodes at Palestinian School, Hurting 5 Children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221172300/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/world/bomb-explodes-at-palestinian-school-hurting-5-children.html |date=21 December 2016}}, The New York Times, 18 September 2002. In 2011, United Nations Special Rapporteur Richard A. Falk said that many Palestinian children have stopped attending school because of frequent settler harassment.[https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40122#.UWDtZ1dc04Q UN expert urges more protection against violence for Palestinian children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421004009/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40122#.UWDtZ1dc04Q |date=21 April 2017}}, United Nations News Center, 20 October 2011.

Reports indicate that medical care at Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasr children's hospitals has nearly come to a halt. Only a small generator provided power to the intensive care and neonatal intensive care units. Al-Rantisi Hospital faced intense attacks and hostilities.

Furthermore, Al-Nasr Children's Hospital has once again suffered damage, including vital equipment. Another children's hospital in the northern region has ceased operations due to both damage and a shortage of fuel. Additionally, a specialized maternity hospital is in dire need of fuel to continue functioning.[https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/lives-one-million-children-hanging-thread-child-health-services-almost-collapse Lives of one million children 'hanging by a thread,' as child health services almost collapse across the Gaza Strip] Retrieved 16 January 2024

On 15 February, the United Nations reported that Israel had destroyed its clinic for visually impaired children, stating the "centre was available to all visually impaired children across the Gaza Strip and provided braille machines, canes, [and] visual aids."{{cite web |title=UNRWA says facility for visually impaired children has been totally destroyed |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710855 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024}}

An Israeli child wounded by a [[Hamas Grad rocket fired on the city of Beer Sheva is taken to a hospital|thumb|left|250px]]

Israel has maintained a system of socialized health care for all Israelis since its establishment in 1948. A National Health Insurance law was passed in 1995.Sharon Segel, [http://www.physiciansnews.com/2009/10/01/can-universal-healthcare-work-a-look-at-israels-successful-model/ Can Universal Healthcare Work? A Look at Israel's Successful Model] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406135544/http://www.physiciansnews.com/2009/10/01/can-universal-healthcare-work-a-look-at-israels-successful-model/ |date=6 April 2020}}, Physicians News, 2010. Coverage includes medical diagnosis and treatment, preventive medicine, hospitalization, surgery and transplants, preventive dental care for children, and other benefits.[http://www.israel.org/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Israel%20at%2050/The%20Health%20Care%20System%20in%20Israel-%20An%20Historical%20Pe The Health Care System in Israel- An Historical Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023194002/http://www.israel.org/MFA/History/Modern%2520History/Israel%2520at%252050/The%2520Health%2520Care%2520System%2520in%2520Israel-%2520An%2520Historical%2520Pe |date=23 October 2021}}, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 26 June 2002.

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict, however, has been found to have negative impacts on children's health and medical care. A 2007 study found that stress from the violence in years prior has led to sharply increased levels of alcohol consumption, smoking, and substance abuse among Israeli adolescents.{{cite journal|title=Exposure to Terrorism and Israeli Youths' Cigarette, Alcohol, and Cannabis Use|date=October 2007 |pmc=1994181 |pmid=17761574|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2006.090514|volume=97|issue=10|journal=Am J Public Health|pages=1852–8 |last1=Schiff |first1=M |last2=Zweig |first2=HH |last3=Benbenishty |first3=R |last4=Hasin |first4=DS}} It stated, in part, that "Close physical exposure to acts of terrorism was positively associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and cannabis that were significant before and after we controlled for PTSS and depression." The study concluded that there is a high risk of future health complications as a result of these behaviors.

File:Bloody child's shoe after rocket fired from Gaza hit Israel.jpg

The Unit of Emergency Medicine from Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel performed a two-year research and review surrounding the medical care of child terror victims. The results, which were published in 2003, stated, "During the study period, 41 mass-casualty events (MCEs) were managed by Magen David Adom. Each event involved on average, 32 regular and nine mobile intensive care unit ambulances with 93 medics, 19 paramedics, and four physicians. Evacuation time was 5–10 minutes in urban areas and 15–20 minutes in rural areas. In most cases, victims were evacuated to multiple facilities. To improve efficiency and speed, the Magen David Adom introduced the use of well-trained 'first-responders' and volunteer, off-duty professionals, in addition to 'scoop and run' on-the-scene management."{{cite journal|title=The impact of terrorism on children: a two-year experience|date=July–September 2003 |pmid=15141864 |volume=18|issue=3|journal=Prehosp Disaster Med|pages=242–8 |last1=Waisman |first1=Y |last2=Aharonson-Daniel |first2=L |last3=Mor |first3=M |last4=Amir |first4=L |last5=Peleg |first5=K |doi=10.1017/s1049023x00001114|s2cid=27651335}} It added that "Compared to children with non-terrorism-related injuries, the terrorism-related group had a higher rate of surgical interventions, longer hospital stays, and greater needs for rehabilitation services."

Hospitals in southern Israel have been damaged by Qassam rockets from Gaza,{{Cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/student-killed-in-negev-college-as-qassam-barrage-intensifies-1.240250 |title=Student killed in Negev college as Qassam barrage intensifies |publisher=Ha'aretz |date=28 February 2008 |access-date=18 April 2013 |location=London |archive-date=21 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021005805/http://www.haaretz.com/news/student-killed-in-negev-college-as-qassam-barrage-intensifies-1.240250 |url-status=live}} and ambulances have been delayed by Palestinians pelting them with rocks.{{cite web |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-06-21/news/18185216_1_pair-of-palestinian-gunmen-west-bank-tulkarem |title=5 Killed at Settlement; Israel Rallies Reserves |work=New York Daily News |date=21 June 2002 |access-date=18 April 2013 |archive-date=9 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609134222/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-06-21/news/18185216_1_pair-of-palestinian-gunmen-west-bank-tulkarem |url-status=dead}} In 2012, a Palestinian man admitted to poisoning a Jewish family, causing two adults and two children to be hospitalized.{{cite news|url=http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23371/Default.aspx |work=Israel Today |first=Ryan |last=Jones |title=Palestinian admits to poisoning Jewish family |date=2 September 2012}}

File:2012.01.16.HebronGilbertCheckpoint.1.JPG Israeli soldiers inspect Palestinian school-girls at a checkpoint in Tel Rumeida, Hebron.]]

Since the 1990s, and especially since the violence associated with the Second Intifada, Israel has created hundreds of permanent roadblocks and checkpoints staffed by the Israeli military or border police.[Franz Von Benda-Beckmann, Keebet von Benda-Beckmann, Julia M. Eckert, Rules of Law and Laws of Ruling: On the Governance of Law, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mYLnYWdPKBYC&dq=Israeli+first+established+checkpoints&pg=PA93 p. 93–98] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219083616/https://books.google.com/books?id=mYLnYWdPKBYC&pg=PA93&dq=Israeli+first+established+checkpoints&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IdIHUaChHMXE0QGM6YDgAg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Israeli%20first%20established%20checkpoints&f=false |date=19 December 2016}}, {{ISBN|0-7546-7239-5}}, 9780754672395 While some are between Israel and the West Bank to prevent possible terrorist attacks, as of September 2011, most were within the West Bank, with 522 such permanent and an average of 495 temporary "flying checkpoints."{{cite web|title=Movement and Access in the West Bank|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/8F5CBCD2F464B6B18525791800541DA6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108153640/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/8F5CBCD2F464B6B18525791800541DA6|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 January 2014|publisher=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory|access-date=24 July 2012}} A 2009 United Nations report stated that the checkpoints were evolving into "a more permanent system of control" reducing the space available for Palestinian growth and movement for the benefit of the increasing Israeli settler population.{{Cite news |title=The Humanitarian Monitor, Number 34, February 2009 |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_humanitarian_monitor_2009_02_01_english.pdf |date=1 February 2009 |access-date=6 April 2009 |agency=UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325175956/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_humanitarian_monitor_2009_02_01_english.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009 |url-status=dead}} A 2002 incident of a bomb found in a Red Crescent ambulance increased vigilance regarding those vehicles.Amos Harel, Amira Hass, Yosef Algazy, [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/bomb-found-in-red-crescent-ambulance-1.49189 Bomb found in Red Crescent ambulance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031085623/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/bomb-found-in-red-crescent-ambulance-1.49189 |date=31 October 2015}}, Haaretz, 29 March 2002.

In 2004, psychiatrist Derek Summerfield wrote in an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal that the then-recent Israeli military reoccupation of the West Bank and Gaza divided communities by "checkpoints", put up massive walls like the Israeli West Bank barrier and the Gaza Strip barrier and demolished 60,000 homes. The World Bank estimated that due to these actions, Palestinian poverty had tripled in three years, with 60% of the population subsisting at poverty level and over half of the households eating just one meal daily. The barrier was isolating 97 primary health clinics and 11 hospitals from Palestinian patients. During that time, there were 87 cases in which denial of access to medical treatment caused death, including 30 children. Some babies born while women in labor were kept at checkpoints. Summerfield said that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has criticized the Israel Medical Association for its silence on these issues.Derek Summerfield, [http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7471/924?ijkey=a8226af1022ebb0cadde58e68d909f684dd5c9b3&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha Personal View: Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420144736/http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7471/924?ijkey=a8226af1022ebb0cadde58e68d909f684dd5c9b3&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha |date=20 April 2017}}, 14 October 2004;([http://www.zcommunications.org/palestine-the-assault-on-health-and-other-war-crimes-by-derek-summerfield copy readable without registration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026214812/https://www.zcommunications.org/palestine-the-assault-on-health-and-other-war-crimes-by-derek-summerfield |date=26 October 2021}} at Z Communications website.)

A 2009 The Lancet medical journal report, authored by Dr. Awad Mataria and Dr. Hanan Abdul Rahim, described the healthcare system in the Palestinian territories as "fragmented and incoherent." Dr. Rahim said there were gaps in care, a low level of post-natal care, and little decline in infant mortality rates compared with other Arab countries that had been able to bring them down. The report cited a United Nations report that stated more than 60 Palestinian women had given birth at Israeli checkpoints and 36 of their babies died as a result. The physicians blamed conditions of military occupation, Palestinian political instability, inconsistent and fragmented foreign aid donor policies and a focus on emergency aid, as opposed to long-term development inside the Palestinian territories.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7924199.stm Palestinian health care 'ailing'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307075329/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7924199.stm |date=7 March 2015}}, BBC, Thursday, 5 March 2009; this was one article in The Lancet series [http://www.thelancet.com/series/health-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110135817/http://www.thelancet.com/series/health-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory |date=10 November 2012}}, launched 4 March 2009. The World Health Organization reports regularly on health care in the "occupied Palestinian territory."[https://web.archive.org/web/20041203221638/http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/wbgs/en/ The occupied Palestinian territory, Situation reports archives], World Health Organization website.

In response to the Summerfield opinion piece, Irwin Mansdorf, a member of Task Force on Medical and Public Health Issues, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, wrote an opinion piece about routine care that Palestinians continue to receive in Israeli hospitals and from Israeli physicians, saying that "Palestinians receive care in Israel that they could not receive in any neighboring Arab country. In the last few months alone, nearly 200 Palestinian children who were referred under a joint Israeli–Palestinian programme to treat children with serious medical conditions have already undergone major surgery at Israeli hospitals at no cost to the families. Another 350–400 Palestinian children have undergone free diagnostic testing."Irwin Mansdorf, [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7474/1102-a?ck=nck Personal View: Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes: Summerfield's outrage is misplaced] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060304101513/http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7474/1102-a?ck=nck |date=4 March 2006}}, The BMJ, 4 November 2004. Simon M Fellerman also wrote one noting that Saving Children, established by the Peres Center for Peace, enables hundreds of Palestinian children to receive free medical care, in particular cardiac surgery, from Israeli surgeons.Simon M Fellerman, [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7474/1110?ck=nck Personal View: Palestinian health: the truth, the lies, and the statistics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626193230/http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7474/1110?ck=nck |date=26 June 2006}}, The BMJ, 4 November 2004. In response to the Lancet report, an Israeli government spokesperson said that Palestinians in the territories could receive medical care in Israel itself, noting that 28,000 Palestinians from Gaza had been treated in Israel during the two years covered by the Lancet report.

In 2011, the Israeli Civil Administration's Health Coordinator, Dalia Bassa and the Commander of the IDF's Alpine unit jointly organized a ski trip to Mt. Hermon in northern Israel for Palestinian children diagnosed with cancer. The children, who were accompanied by parents, family members, and Israeli soldiers from the Alpine Unit, are undergoing treatment at the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem.[http://www.jewishpress.com/news/photos/arab-children-with-cancer-with-alpine-soldiers-on-mt-hermon/2012/05/08/0/?print Arab Children with Cancer Meet Alpine Soldiers on Mt. Hermon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201163438/http://www.jewishpress.com/news/photos/arab-children-with-cancer-with-alpine-soldiers-on-mt-hermon/2012/05/08/0/?print |date=1 February 2016}}. 8 May 2012.

The impact of poverty on the lives of children is manifold: their education frequently remains unfinished as they drop out of school at a tender age, typically to labor and support their families. Poverty gives rise to early marriages among young girls and contributes to adolescent delinquency.

In Palestine, around 70% of children attend primary school. Children living in refugee camps and villages without schools face challenges in accessing education. A 2013 UNICEF study revealed that over 2,500 children in educated communities pass through at least one checkpoint daily to reach school, leading to school dropouts and child labor. Additionally, the limited number of classes available results in overcrowded classrooms, poor teaching quality, and schools lacking resources and materials. Following the November 2012 Gaza War, numerous schools in Gaza were damaged or destroyed. In 2013, UNICEF reported that over 123,000 children had to halt their education.

Accidents from children playing with Unexploded ordnance are a low-level but recurrent threat to children's health. The majority of incidents involving unexploded ordnance occurred in the Gaza Strip.*[https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34040 In Gaza, UN teams destroy unexploded ordnance with white phosphorus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421004004/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34040 |date=21 April 2017}} UN News Centre

• [http://www.maginternational.org/news/gaza-unexploded-bombs-threaten-reconstruction/ GAZA: Unexploded bombs threaten reconstruction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124041939/http://www.maginternational.org/news/gaza-unexploded-bombs-threaten-reconstruction |date=24 January 2010}}
• [http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/5b3kba?opendocument Israel and the occupied/autonomous territories: UXO-awareness activities in West Bank and Gaza Strip] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201122622/http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/5b3kba?opendocument |date=1 December 2006}} ICRC 13 June 2002

"Save A Child's Heart" is a program in which any child with heart problems can receive free medical attention and surgery from select doctors and hospitals within Israel. As of 2009, it had operated on 1000 Palestinian children.[https://archive.today/20130415233913/http://www.saveachildsheart.org/281-2406-en/Children'sProfiles.aspx?pos=321 Save a Child's Heart.com] Success rates.

Hadassah Medical Center has reported that organ donations in which the recipient is a Palestinian and the donor an Israeli, or vice versa, are not unusual. In one case, a Palestinian from Bethlehem received the kidney of an Israeli.Prof. Ehud Kokia, [https://archive.today/20130414225231/http://www.hadassah.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=keJNIWOvElH&b=7874737&ct=11560719¬oc=1 The Hadassah Model, Diary of A Director General], Hadassah Medical Center, undated. The families of Yoni Jesner, a Jewish teenager, and Ahmed Khatib, a Palestinian boy, donated their organs to children from opposite sides of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.{{cite news|title=Ahmed's gift of life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/11/israel1|date=11 November 2005|work=The Guardian|location=London|first=Chris|last=McGreal|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-date=16 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216094802/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/11/israel1|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article588205.ece |location=London |work=The Times |first=Stephen |last=Farrell |title=A victory over death and hate |date=9 November 2005 |access-date=10 August 2010 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629110445/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article588205.ece |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/30/comment.religion |title=Emma Klein and Judy Cooper: Face to faith |work=The Guardian |date=30 September 2006 |access-date=21 October 2012 |location=London |archive-date=30 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830181710/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/30/comment.religion |url-status=live}} Yoni Jesner died in a suicide bombing in 2002, while Ahmed Khatib was killed by IDF gunfire in 2005. In 2002, 16-year-old Israeli Rachel Thaler was killed along with two other teenagers in a suicide bombing. After her death, Thaler's family chose to have her organs donated.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqMVfx6dCJkC&q=shalhevet+pass+became&pg=PA125 |title=A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism |author=Giulio Meotti |year=2010 |publisher=Encounter Books |access-date=6 October 2012 |isbn=9781594034770 |archive-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830102757/https://books.google.com/books?id=gqMVfx6dCJkC&q=shalhevet+pass+became&pg=PA125 |url-status=live}}

{{main|Gaza Strip famine|Blockade of the Gaza Strip}}

{{Multiple image

| perrow = 1/2/2

| total_width = 300

| image1 = A 4-year-old Palestinian girl, lost her life due to malnutrition and lack of treatment due to the war on Gaza.jpg

| image2 = Displaced Palestinians receive food from charitable Tekiya during Ramadan in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip.jpg

| image3 = Displaced Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip.jpg

| footer_align = center

| footer = Image from the 2023–25 Gaza War, clockwise from top: {{flatlist|

• 4-year-old Palestinian girl, died due to malnutrition and lack of treatment
• Displaced Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip
• Displaced Palestinians receive food from charitable Tekiya during Ramadan in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip

}}

}}

In a 2003 United Nations report, Special Rapporteur Jean Ziegler reported that over 22 percent of children under 5 in the Palestinian territories were suffering from malnutrition and 15.6 percent from acute anaemia. According to the World Bank, food consumption in the Palestinian Territories fell by more than 25 percent per capita, and food shortages, particularly of proteins, were reported.[http://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/chr60/10add2AV.pdf Economic, social and cultural rights – The right to food] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210040138/http://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/chr60/10add2AV.pdf |date=10 December 2004 }} Jean Ziegler. United Nations Commission of Human Rights. 31 October 2003 A 2007 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics poll of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza found that as a result of poverty, about 10 percent of Palestinian children suffer "permanent effects from malnutrition", including especially stunted growth. In 2010, the Danish government sponsored a survey that found that 10 percent of children in Gaza are malnourished.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7806209/Dispatch-Just-how-hungry-is-Gaza.html Dispatch: Just how hungry is Gaza?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120050250/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7806209/Dispatch-Just-how-hungry-is-Gaza.html |date=20 November 2018}}, The Telegraph, 5 June 2010.

A 2012 report jointly issued by aid organizations Save the Children and Britain's Medical Aid for Palestinians found that 10 percent of Gaza children under five had stunted growth due to malnutrition and that 68 percent of pre-school children and 58 percent of children of school age suffered from anaemia. The report stated that the five-year blockade of Gaza Strip, which has prevented importation of necessary supplies and materials, as well as Israel's Gaza War bombing of infrastructure, has led to water being severely contaminated by fertilizer and human waste. Diseases like typhoid and diarrhea, spread by contaminated water, have doubled in children under the age of 3, which has long-term health implications.[http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/gazas-children-falling-behind Gaza's Children: Falling behind] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116214712/http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/gazas-children-falling-behind |date=16 January 2013}}, Report of Save the Children and Britain's Medical Aid for Palestinians, June 2012. Open sewage is a problem and in 2012 three children drowned in pools of it.[http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/yad/mea-culpa-media A Mea Culpa From The Media] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120084211/http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/yad/mea-culpa-media |date=20 November 2012}} The Jewish Week, 18 November 2012.

Due to the scarcity of water resources, hygiene often takes a backseat to meeting basic needs such as food and drink. In addition, the consumption of non-potable water can result in serious illnesses among children, including diarrhea and hepatitis.

In Gaza, a staggering 95% of the water is not safe for human consumption. The pollution levels are so high that it is projected that the region will run out of drinkable water by 2016, with irreversible consequences by 2020. The excessive nitrate content, largely stemming from inadequate wastewater management, is responsible for numerous illnesses affecting infants and young children.

Researchers are finding high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder among Palestinian children.Knafo, Danielle (2004) Living with Terror, Working with Trauma: A Clinician's Handbook, Rowman & Littlefield, {{ISBN|0-7657-0378-5}} p 220 According to some researchers, the average rate of post-traumatic stress disorder among children from both sides of the Green Line is about 70 percent.[http://defense-update.com/analysis/analysis_010607_ptsd.htm Defense Update] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413012331/http://www.defense-update.com/analysis/analysis_010607_ptsd.htm |date=13 April 2009 }} "Terror related Post-Traumatic Stress: The Israeli Experience", by David Eshel Dr. Avital Laufer of Tel Aviv University told the Knesset Committee on the Rights of Children. The committee was discussing the effects of the terror attacks of the past 32 months on children. Laufer's findings were based on a study of some 3,000 children aged 13 to 15, from both sides of the "Green Line". Some 70 percent of the children said that the terror attacks had had a direct impact on their lives, causing them to abandon or avoid certain activities.[https://archive.today/20130125101602/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=300638&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Haaretz] 5 June 2003 Terror leaves 42% of children with PTSD By Gideon Alon Gaza Community Health Programs carried out a study and found that the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) rate for children in Gaza was that 54 percent suffered from severe PTSD, 33.5 percent from moderate and 11% from mild and doubtful levels of PTSD. In a report published in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, it was estimated that the rate of psychological morbidity in the southern region of Bethlehem in the West Bank is 42.3 percent among Palestinian children. The rate was 46.3 percent for boys and 37.8 percent for girls. These rates, the study reported, were twice the rate of psychological morbidity in the Gaza Strip.[http://ww1.cpa-apc.org:8080/Publications/Archives/CJP/2004/January/zakrison.pdf Canadian Journal of Psychiatry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723101105/http://ww1.cpa-apc.org:8080/Publications/Archives/CJP/2004/January/zakrison.pdf |date=23 July 2011}}, Vol 49, No 1, January 2004

According to some reports, more than 370,000 Palestinian children have been left shell-shocked by the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11372893/Hundreds-of-thousands-of-children-shell-shocked-after-the-war-in-Gaza.html|title=Hundreds of thousands of children shell-shocked after the war in Gaza|date=28 January 2015|work=Telegraph|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=25 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325125052/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/gaza/11372893/Hundreds-of-thousands-of-children-shell-shocked-after-the-war-in-Gaza.html|url-status=live}}

Israeli professor Edward Kaufman has written that widespread PTSD among Israeli children is caused by "the environment of fear resulting from indiscriminate acts of terror."{{Cite web |url=http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/troubled-children-in-a-troubled-land/ |title=Troubled children in a troubled land, Radio Netherlands Archives, August 25, 2004 |date=25 August 2004 |access-date=18 December 2018 |archive-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814042359/http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/troubled-children-in-a-troubled-land/ |url-status=live}} According to an Israeli child psychiatrist, about half of the children in Jerusalem, the city hit hardest by Palestinian violence, experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, two to three times higher than the rate of children suffering from other causes of trauma. A recent study by Herzog's trauma centre found that 33 percent of Israeli youth have been affected personally by terrorism, either by being at the scene of an attack or by knowing someone injured or killed by terrorists. Seventy percent of those surveyed reported increased subjective fear or hopelessness.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ajn.com.au/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210144306/http://www.ajn.com.au/pages/archives/feature/feature-01l.html|title=AJN | Latest Nicotine News|archivedate=10 December 2004|website=www.ajn.com.au}} Studies have found high levels of PTSD in southern Israel, which is frequently attacked by rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip. In particular, frequent air-raid sirens and explosions of incoming projectiles have caused severe psychological trauma in the city of Sderot.{{cite web |last=Sharfman |first=Jake |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/tiny-organization-fights-to-make-sderot-s-voice-heard-1.1883 |title=Tiny organization fights to make Sderot's voice heard |work=Haaretz |date=17 December 2009 |access-date=7 June 2012 |archive-date=27 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227012640/http://www.haaretz.com/news/tiny-organization-fights-to-make-sderot-s-voice-heard-1.1883 |url-status=live}}

The Gaza war, the bloodiest of the wars Gaza has experienced in the 21st century, had a catastrophic effect on children in Gaza and weeks of sustained air strikes and explosions have contributed to their psychological destruction. Following 16 days of bombardment, children developed severe trauma, with symptoms including convulsion, aggression, bed-wetting, and nervousness. 90% of children in pediatric hospitals in Gaza exhibited or reported symptoms of anxiety, the majority exhibited post-traumatic stress symptoms, and 82% reported fears of imminent death.{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/22/children-in-gaza-developing-severe-trauma-after-16-days-of-bombing#:~:text=Children%20had%20"started%20to%20develop,most%20impacted%2C"%20he%20said. | title= Children in Gaza 'developing severe trauma' after 16 days of bombing =15 October 2023|work=The guardian| date=22 October 2023 | last1=Sherwood | first1=Harriet }}{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-07/ty-article/.premium/un-adds-israel-to-blacklist-of-countries-that-harm-children-amid-gaza-war/0000018f-f37e-d084-abef-f77f242f0000|title=UN Adds Israel, Hamas to 'Blacklist' of Countries That Harm Children in Conflict Zones Amid Gaza Wa|publisher=haaretz}}

Due to the ongoing relentless bombing campaign, the progress of education has once again been disrupted. Schools have been transformed into temporary shelters, prioritizing survival over learning. On a distressing note, the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, renowned for its provision of scholarships to Palestinians in need, suffered destruction on Tuesday. In response, the EAA issued a statement condemning the destruction, emphasizing that such acts of collective punishment, reprisals, and attacks on civilians and infrastructure are grave breaches of international humanitarian law. Furthermore, if these actions are intentional, they qualify as war crimes.[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/19/israels-war-against-gazas-children-explained How have schools been affected?] Retrieved 10 March 2024

Some images of children in the conflict have been shown to be false, digitally altered, or outdated, and are used to manipulate public sentiment.

During the March 2012 Gaza–Israel clashes, Khulood Badawi, an Information and Media Coordinator for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, tweeted a picture of a Palestinian child covered in blood. She was criticized because the child was 5-year-old Raja Abu Shaban, who was killed in 2006 when she fell from a swing, and not in an Israeli attack.Sheera Frenkel, [http://northiowatoday.com/?p=12254 Tweets of misleading photos feed Israeli–Palestinian feud] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624162508/https://northiowatoday.com/2012/03/14/tweets-of-misleading-photos-feed-israeli-palestinian-feud/ |date=24 June 2022 }}, The McClatchy Company, 14 March 2012. Badawi later tweeted that she mistakenly had tweeted an old photo.Herb Keinon, [http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=262541 No sign UN will fire worker over incendiary tweet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120030628/http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=262541 |date=20 January 2013}}, Jerusalem Post, 20 March 2012. Ma'an News Agency reported the hospital medical report on the dead girl stated she died "due to falling from a high area during the Israeli strike on Gaza." Interviews with relatives, news reports and investigations by human rights organizations also suggest that her death indirectly was caused by an Israeli air strike as little as 100 meters away, though accounts differ on how this occurred. Israeli officials have said that the girl's death had nothing to do with Israel.Charlotte Alfred, [http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=471498 Twitter flap obscures details of Gaza girl's death] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116101556/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=471498 |date=16 January 2013}}, Ma'an News Agency, 27 March 2012 (updated) 01/04/2012 09:31

One day later, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tweeted a photo of an Israeli woman and her two children ducking a Gaza rocket, describing it as "when a rocket fired by terrorists from Gaza is about to hit their home." When it was proved the photo was from 2009, he said, "I never stated that the photo was current. It illustrates the fear that people in southern Israel live in."Diaa Hadid, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150924030203/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-1f40d5c71d714838a2ee4223ba3b6bcb.html Old photos tweeted in Israel–Palestinian conflict], Associated Press Worldstream, 15 March 2012.

In early November 2012, Israeli activists reported that several journalists with cameras followed a Palestinian girl as she repeatedly tried without success to provoke a violent reaction from Israeli soldiers.[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4303199,00.html Childish Weapon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111171017/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4303199,00.html |date=11 November 2012}}, Ynet 16 November 2012 On 18 November, Alarab Net, an Arab news site, released a photo of three bloodied children and their mother with the caption "martyred massacred family in Gaza." This image turned out to be of Syrian children.Silverman, Anav (18 November 2012). [http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/18/another-photo-of-syrian-massacre-falsely-recycled-as-gaza-tragedy/#widget-zoom-video-cat-4 Another Photo of Syrian Massacre Falsely Recycled as Gaza Tragedy (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214064846/http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/18/another-photo-of-syrian-massacre-falsely-recycled-as-gaza-tragedy/#widget-zoom-video-cat-4 |date=14 December 2018}} Algemeiner Journal. Retrieved 19 November 2012. Pro-Palestinian activists published a photograph on Twitter of an injured infant held by a rescue worker, writing that "even this young injured Palestinian child doesn't seem surprised or scared, used to Israeli terrorism." The baby in the picture was quickly identified as an Israeli injured in a Hamas rocket attack, which also killed her mother.Harkov, Lahav. [http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=292475 Hamas co-opts photos of injured Syrians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119205921/http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=292475 |date=19 November 2012}} The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 November 2012. The Washington Post reported at the time on the tendency of both sides in the conflict to politicize photos of injured and dead children.Max Fisher, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/16/the-israeli-palestinian-politics-of-a-bloodied-childs-photo/ The Israeli–Palestinian politics of a bloodied child's photo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524072535/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/16/the-israeli-palestinian-politics-of-a-bloodied-childs-photo/ |date=24 May 2015}}, The Washington Post, 16 November 2012.

Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, reports surfaced alleging that militants had beheaded Israeli babies in the Kfar Aza kibbutz. These claims, initially circulated by Israeli soldiers and reported by media outlets such as i24NEWS, quickly spread across international media. The story gained further traction after U.S. President Joe Biden referenced having seen photos of beheaded children, though the White House later clarified that he had not seen such images and was referring only to media reports.{{cite web | title=Unverified reports of '40 babies beheaded' in Israel-Hamas war inflame social media | website=NBC News | date=2023-10-12 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/unverified-allegations-beheaded-babies-israel-hamas-war-inflame-social-rcna119902 | access-date=2025-04-16}} The Israel Defense Forces stated they could not verify the claims, and subsequently, news networks have denounced these claims. {{cite web | last1=Chance | first1=Matthew | last2=Greene | first2=Richard Allen | last3=Berlinger | first3=Joshua | title=Israeli official says government cannot confirm babies were beheaded in Hamas attack | website=CNN | date=2023-10-12 | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/12/middleeast/israel-hamas-beheading-claims-intl/index.html | access-date=2025-04-16}}{{cite web | title=CNN reporter apologizes for defending Israeli claims that Hamas beheaded babies | website=Anadolu Ajansı | date=2023-10-14 | url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/cnn-reporter-apologizes-for-defending-israeli-claims-that-hamas-beheaded-babies-/3019286 | access-date=2025-04-16}}

Despite the lack of corroboration, the claim was widely circulated and used to generate international outrage, particularly in Western media and political discourse. Critics argued that the propagation of the story without verification served to intensify public emotions and influence perceptions of the conflict, especially regarding the actions of Hamas and the justification of Israel's military response.{{cite web | last1=Maad | first1=Assma | last2=Audureau | first2=William | last3=Forey | first3=Samuel | title='40 beheaded babies': Deconstructing the rumor at the heart of the information battle between Israel and Hamas | website=Le Monde.fr | date=2024-04-03 | url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2024/04/03/40-beheaded-babies-the-itinerary-of-a-rumor-at-the-heart-of-the-information-battle-between-israel-and-hamas_6667274_8.html | access-date=2025-04-16}}

File:GalilSchoolSign.jpg ]]

Many Arab–Israeli peace projects actively involve children and teenagers. For example, Seeds of Peace was founded in 1993 with the goal of creating new generations of leaders in conflict regions that will no longer accept outdated and harmful stereotypes about each other. This would occur by bringing together youth from both sides of conflict regions to literally put a human face on those who were previously perceived as an enemy. The organization, which began with Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian teenagers, has expanded to reach Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Maine, Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus/Republic of Cyprus), and the Balkans.{{cite web |url=http://www.seedsofpeace.org/programs |title=List of Current Seeds of Peace Areas of Operation |access-date=11 November 2012 |publisher=Seeds of Peace |archive-date=16 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116073126/http://www.seedsofpeace.org/programs/ |url-status=live}}

Children of Peace, a charity based in the United Kingdom, is self-described as focused "upon building alliances with like-minded organisations in the Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank [establishing] projects and programmes in the arts, education, health and sports for Israeli and Palestinian children, aged 4 – 17."{{cite web|url=http://www.childrenofpeace.org.uk/whatwedo.html|title=WHAT WE DO|author=Robin Jones|date=20 March 2015|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515003044/http://childrenofpeace.org.uk/whatwedo.html|archive-date=15 May 2015|url-status=dead}} Richard Martin, who founded the organization in 2005, has stated that he refuses to take sides because "all children suffer in conflict."Vosper, Nicole and Walkden, Ruth (11 March 2011). [http://positivenews.org.uk/2011/community/youth/3518/children-of-peace-new-hope-for-palestine-and-israel/ Children of Peace: new hope for Palestine and Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119122737/http://positivenews.org.uk/2011/community/youth/3518/children-of-peace-new-hope-for-palestine-and-israel/ |date=19 January 2013}}. Positive News. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

File:Twoteachers.jpg

Middle East Education Through Technology (MEET), the Institute for Circlework, TEC-Center for Technology, Education, and Cultural Diversity,{{cite web | title=About TEC Center | website=mofet-web.macam.ac.il | url=https://mofet-web.macam.ac.il/tec/en/center/ | access-date=2025-06-02}} and Hand in Hand focus on educational efforts. Hand in Hand is a network of bilingual (Hebrew-Arabic) schools in which Jewish and Arab children study together. It was founded in 1997 by two Israelis, one Arab and one Jewish, to break negative stereotypes, cultivate mutual respect and understanding, and provide an example that Jews and Arabs can study, work and live together in peace.[http://www.iie.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Programs7/Goldberg_Prize/Goldberg_Prize_2007_Press_Release.htm "IIE AWARDS PRIZE TO FOUNDERS OF BILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL SCHOOLS"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012200139/http://iie.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Programs7/Goldberg_Prize/Goldberg_Prize_2007_Press_Release.htm |date=12 October 2007}}, International Institute of Education, Press Release, 14 June 2007.]

Hand in Hand has also hosted basketball games organized by PeacePlayers International (PPI) between Israeli and Palestinian teenagers, describing them as "baby steps" towards peace. Ala Khatib, a co-principal, said that "Never mind what is going on outside, whether it's bombing in Gaza or if it's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, you can't stop school. You have to go to school, you have to face the other side, you have to say good morning, and you have to talk."Arie, Roni (18 November 2008). [http://www.haaretz.com/news/palestinian-israeli-kids-find-peace-on-basketball-court-1.257403 Palestinian, Israeli kids find peace on basketball court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513145256/http://www.haaretz.com/news/palestinian-israeli-kids-find-peace-on-basketball-court-1.257403 |date=13 May 2011}} Haaretz. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

In 2005, the United States-based Kabbalah Center and the Palestinian Abu Assukar Center for Peace and Dialogue organized a children's camp for 115 Israeli children and 115 Palestinian children aged 8 to 12 to take place near Tel Aviv at the Ramat Gan Safari Park. The camp, which lasted for four days, involved children from Bethlehem, Ramallah, East Jerusalem, Tulkarem, Jericho, and Jenin. The Israeli children involved were mostly those who came from severe poverty and violent backgrounds. Joint-organizer Osnat Youdkevitch remarked that, "Our message is that of dignity for all human beings. It's harder for adults to fully understand, since so much has already been built up around us, but kids have the chance to grow up thinking in a healthier way. If you play, eat and sweat for four days with a group of other kids who are supposed to be the 'enemy', it will stay in your heart forever."Thomas, Amelia (2 September 2005). [http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=967&lan=en&sp=0 Israeli and Palestinian Children Participate in Peace Camp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429015020/http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=967&lan=en&sp=0 |date=29 April 2012}}. Common Ground News Service. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

Mifalot is an organization founded by the owners of Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club to promote peaceful coexistence through football. In 2013, a football match was held in Holon, bringing together Palestinian and Israeli teenagers. Fatah activists posted threatening messages on the Internet against the Palestinian boys and girls who participated in the tournament, and Fatah leaders in Ramallah condemned their participation in such events.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Friendly-soccer-match-leads-to-Fatah-threats-313240|title=Friendly soccer match leads to Fatah threats|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=15 May 2013 |access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318123510/http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Friendly-soccer-match-leads-to-Fatah-threats-313240|url-status=live}}

• Children in emergencies and conflicts
• Civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
• Effect of the Gaza war on children in the Gaza Strip
• Israeli war crimes
• Human rights in Israel
• Human rights in the State of Palestine
• Human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel
• Indiscriminate attack
• List of Israeli civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
• List of Palestinian civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
• Violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Use of human shields by Hamas

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book

| title = Children in Israeli Military Detention: Observations and Recommendations

| publisher = UNICEF

| url = https://www.unicef.org/oPt/UNICEF_oPt_Children_in_Israeli_Military_Detention_Observations_and_Recommendations_-_6_March_2013.pdf

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130319053250/http://www.unicef.org/oPt/UNICEF_oPt_Children_in_Israeli_Military_Detention_Observations_and_Recommendations_-_6_March_2013.pdf

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 19 March 2013

| date = February 2013

| ref = {{harvid|Unicef|2013}}

}}

• {{Cite journal | title = Have Palestinian Children Forfeited Their Rights?

| last = Sait | first = M. Siraj

| journal = Journal of Comparative Family Studies

| date = Spring 2004 | volume = 35 | issue = 2 | pages = 211–228

| jstor = 41603933

| doi = 10.3138/jcfs.35.2.211 }}

• {{Cite book

| title = Minors in Jeopardy: Violation of the Rights of Palestinian Minors by Israel's Military Courts

| last = Stein

| first = Yael

| publisher = B'Tselem

| url = https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/201803_minors_in_jeopardy_eng.pdf

| date = March 2018

| isbn = 978-965-7613-33-7

| access-date = 5 March 2019

| archive-date = 23 October 2018

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181023195907/https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/201803_minors_in_jeopardy_eng.pdf

| url-status = live

}}

{{refend}}

{{Gaza War (2008–09)}}

{{2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}}

{{Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}

{{Gaza war}}