Israeli brutality to Palestinians surges

Deliberate Israeli cruelty to Palestinians has surged in West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The killing of Palestinian children and teenagers by Israel has become increasingly common since the start of the war in Gaza on 7 October 2023.
B'Tselem, an Israeli rights group, reported 230 children and teenagers were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank while five people were killed by settlers.
The Palestinian Authority's Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian government institution, reported 250 such deaths over the same time period.
In the 17 years between 2005 and 2021, an average of roughly one Palestinian child or teenager was killed by Israeli forces every month, according to B'Tselem, a frequent but much lower rate.
For the period since the October 7 attack, the average using B'Tselem figures is around seven killed per month.
Last year, of the 54 Palestinian children or teenagers killed according to B'Tselem, the youngest was just two years old, while the majority were aged between 14 and 17.
Teenagers are often killed when Israeli forces engage with Palestinian youths throwing rocks, whom they routinely label terrorists, and shoot them. The Israeli military commander for the West Bank, Major General Avi Bluth, said in early 2026 that the army had killed 42 Palestinians for throwing stones in 2025, not specifying how many were minors.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians, including a three-year-old child, in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, health officials said.
Gaza medics said the Israeli airstrike near a bakery in Deir Al-Balah killed one man, Hussam Nusair, a three-year-old boy, Tayyem Hamdan, and wounded several others.
More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed ‌in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gazan health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
On the other hand, Israel's far-right national security minister on Sunday boasted of worsening conditions for Palestinian prisoners as he visited female inmates.
Two months before elections, Itamar Ben Gvir posted a video in which a veiled woman, her face blurred out, said that prisoners had "extremely bad" conditions and "don't get any rights, and we have particular needs as women".
"We haven't bathed for three days and we haven't changed our underwear," she said, warning of the risk of disease.
Ben Gvir responds approvingly as he compares the treatment to that of hostages held for up to two years by Hamas and other militants in Gaza following the 7 October 2023 attacks.
"Our hostages had no shampoo and had no such conditions. I am proud that we have succeeded in reducing the terrorists' prison conditions to the bare minimum. The summer camps in the prisons are over," Ben Gvir said.
Ben Gvir, who earlier in his career was convicted of offences including racism, has a history of provocative actions and statements.