Israel has killed roughly 100 Palestinian children in West Bank since October

A child mourns over the body of one of five people killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin during an overnight incursion. (File/AFP)
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Updated 13 February 2024
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Israel has killed roughly 100 Palestinian children in West Bank since October

  • Family ordered by Israeli police to remain in the minibus for 1 hour as 4-year old bled

LONDON: Israeli security forces have killed about 100 Palestinian children in the West Bank since October as they ramp up raids on local communities, The Times reported on Tuesday.

One of those children, 4-year-old Ruqaya Jahalin, was shot while traveling with her mother and three siblings to visit relatives in Beit Iksa, a West Bank village about 4 miles from Jerusalem.

To get to Beit Iksa, the Bedouin family had to take a shuttle bus through an Israeli checkpoint. The minibus carried eight people: Ruqaya, her mother, three siblings, two other Palestinians, and the driver.

Despite being cleared by an Israeli policewoman, their vehicle was fired upon by Israeli officers, who shot Ruqaya in the torso on Jan. 7.

Her mother, 38-year-old Aisha, attempted to pull her down, only to find blood running down the little girl’s hand.

The family said they were ordered by Israeli border police to remain in the minibus for the next 50 minutes, The Times reported.

Aisha was trapped in the van, watching her daughter slowly die.

“My mum was going crazy. I had to hold her back and tell her not to leave — they will kill you, don’t leave,” Ruqaya’s sister Rahma said.

“Ruqaya’s body was tensing up. She was squeezing herself in pain,” she added.

The driver of the minibus later counted 28 bullet holes in his vehicle.

“The Israelis promised me there would be an investigation, but I haven’t heard anything,” Ruqaya’s father, Ahmad, 40, a Bedouin shepherd, told The Times.

Israel has killed nearly 400 Palestinians in the West Bank since October, with a quarter of them being children. This has largely been overshadowed by Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed over 28,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children.

There have been several other disturbing incidents. In November, CCTV footage showed an 8-year-old boy collapsing after being shot by Israeli soldiers in Jenin.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, speaking alongside President Joe Biden during a visit to the US on Monday, condemned the high death toll in the West Bank, noting the large number of children killed.


US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

Updated 42 min 12 sec ago
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US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

  • Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, also expresses concern over the drone attack

WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack by Rapid Support Forces on an aid convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.

“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.

“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.

“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.

The Sudan Doctors Network, on its social media accounts, said the World Food Programme (WFP) convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital.

The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.

 

 

Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, in a statement also expressed concern over the drone attack which hit the aid trucks in North Kordofan.

“I am deeply concerned by a drone attack earlier today on trucks contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in North Kordofan, the aftermath of which I came across a few hours later, as I left the state capital, El Obeid.”

“The trucks were en route from Kosti to deliver life-saving food assistance to displaced families near El Obeid when they were struck, tragically killing at least one individual and injuring many more. The trucks caught fire, destroying food commodities intended for life-saving humanitarian response.”

Brown added that “Humanitarian personnel, assets and supplies must be protected at all times. Attacks on aid operations undermine efforts to reach people facing hunger and displacement.”

“Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access remains critical to ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable people across Sudan.”

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.

The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.