Israel's open fire policy killed 183 children in the West Bank since 7 October

The Israeli army has killed at least 183 Palestinian minors in the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023 under what human rights groups describe as an increasingly unrestrained open-fire policy as Israel's onslaught on Gaza continues.

The Israeli rights group B’Tselem has condemned what it calls a "lax and permissive" open-fire policy, which it says enables Israeli forces to shoot at civilians with deadly force. The group cites repeated cases of unnecessary and unlawful killings, including that of a two-year-old girl in Jenin in earlier this year.

In January, Israeli soldiers shot the toddler in the head while firing on her family's home, claiming that an alleged "wanted terrorist" was barricaded inside.

According to B'Tselem's investigation, no such person was found; the girl’s father was the only adult male present, and the family had not heard any warning calls allegedly made by the army via loudspeaker. The child was later evacuated in a civilian vehicle but succumbed to her injuries.

Israel's open-fire regulations officially permit soldiers to use lethal force under two conditions: first, when lives are in immediate danger and there is no other way to neutralise the threat - only the direct assailant may be targeted; and second, when attempting to arrest a suspect, soldiers are permitted to aim at the legs as a last resort, but only after issuing a warning and firing in the air, and ensuring no one else is at risk.

However, B'Tselem reports that these rules are routinely violated or interpreted so broadly that they effectively allow for lethal force in non-life-threatening situations.

Soldiers have been documented targeting individuals throwing stones or shooting at the upper body rather than the legs, contradicting the stated regulations.

The organisation also raised alarm over a reported change in the Israeli military’s rules of engagement in the West Bank.

According to B’Tselem, the army’s Central Command has issued new orders that further ease restrictions on the use of live fire, a move believed to be responsible for a spike in civilian deaths. Since October 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 917 Palestinians in the territory since then, according to health ministry figures.

The killing of Palestinian children by Israeli forces is not new. Human rights organisations, including Defense for Children International–Palestine (DCIP), have for years accused Israeli soldiers of routinely using excessive and lethal force against minors, often in violation of international law.

DCIP documented the deaths of 36 Palestinian children in the West Bank in 2022 alone, and over 100 in 2023—making 2023 one of the deadliest years for Palestinian children in the territory since 2000.

Many of the children killed were shot during raids, confrontations, or protests. Some were targeted while posing no immediate threat, according to eyewitness accounts and video evidence. Others were killed by live fire to the chest or head, despite regulations calling for non-lethal responses.

The UN and rights groups have repeatedly condemned Israel’s use of live ammunition in civilian areas, particularly in densely populated refugee camps like Jenin and Balata, where children are often among the casualties.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has called the killings of Palestinian children part of a broader pattern of "systemic impunity" within the Israeli military justice system.

Despite mounting criticism, accountability remains rare. According to B’Tselem, very few investigations result in prosecutions, and convictions are even rarer, reinforcing what rights groups describe as a culture of impunity.