Israel has killed 25 Palestinian children since the beginning of the Jerusalem Intifada in early October, a report by the Ministry of Health has revealed.

The Ministry of Health added in its report that the number of Palestinian deaths from early October till the first week of December reached 115, including 25 children.

The report pointed to the injury of 530 children, including 311 with live ammunition, 143 with rubber bullets and 26 by tear gas, as well as 50 others wounded as a result of severe beatings.

Ayed Abu Qtaish of Defence of Children International explained that Israel killed 17 Palestinian minors during attempts to carry out stabbings; the rest of the 25 children were killed during clashes in the West Bank.

Abu Qtaish told Quds Press that the vast majority of the killings took place during operations against the Israeli occupation, in which “the children did not pose a danger to the Israeli soldiers who, in turn, did not use gradual measures like arresting them or firing on their lower bodies.”

He pointed out that his organisation documented Israel’s acknowledgement, in reports, that its police and army killed Palestinian children by shooting directly at them and continuously without prior attempts to arrest them.

Abu Qtaish asserted that the Israeli occupation, “no longer shows any respect for Palestinian children’s right to life,” stressing that Israel “turns it back to all international treaties that protect children.”

(MEMO)