UNICEF says 70 children killed in West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2025

Spokesperson says 93 percent of the children had been killed by Israeli forces

Israeli soldiers direct Palestinian children to disperse during a weekly settlers' tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

Seventy children have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territories excluding Gaza since early 2025, amounting to around one a week, while over 800 have been injured, the UN children's agency said on Tuesday.

Most of those killed or injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were hit by live ammunition but others were stabbed, beaten or pepper-sprayed, UNICEF said.

"These are not isolated incidents. They point to a sustained pattern of the worst kind of violation - violations against children," spokesperson James Elder told a Geneva press briefing after visiting the West Bank last week.

He said 93 percent of the children who had lost their lives since January 2025 had been killed by Israeli forces. The others were victims of settler attacks, unexploded ordnance or accidental hits by Palestinian forces, he said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Human rights groups have described a renewed surge in violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and soldiers since 2023.

The United Nations and most countries deem Israel's settlements on West Bank land captured in the 1967 war illegal, a view that Israel disputes.