Palestine, West Bank: Intensified Attacks Destroy Homes, Schools, Water; Average of One Child Killed Per Week

UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder walking with children returning from school in the West Bank (Palestine, May 2026) ©UNICEF/SoP/2026

[Geneva, May 12, 2026]

UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) Spokesperson James Elder spoke at a regular UN press conference in Geneva about children in the Palestinian West Bank facing escalating violence and deteriorating living conditions, stating the following:

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Children are paying an unbearable price due to intensified military operations and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Since January 2025 to date, at least one Palestinian child has been killed on average every week. This means 70 Palestinian children have been killed during this period. 93% of these deaths were at the hands of Israeli forces. Furthermore, 850 children have been injured. The majority of child deaths or injuries were caused by live ammunition. All of this is happening amidst settler attacks reaching unprecedented levels. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last month that March 2026 was the month with the highest number of Palestinians injured by settler attacks in the past 20 years, and these attacks are becoming increasingly organized. Incidents include children being shot, stabbed, beaten, or sprayed with tear gas.

A boy stands on the ruins of his destroyed home in the West Bank (Palestine, May 12, 2026) © UNICEF 2026 Video/UNI990419

These are not isolated incidents but rather repeated and continuous grave violations of children's rights, indicating that children's homes, schools, and the water they need are being targeted. What is happening now is not just an escalation of violence against Palestinian children, but a gradual collapse of the environment necessary for children to survive and thrive.

Homes are being destroyed, education is under attack, and water systems are being demolished. Access to healthcare is being obstructed. Over the past 30 months, more than 900 new barriers and restrictions have been imposed across the West Bank. As a result, with movement increasingly restricted or completely prohibited, children in the region, including East Jerusalem, are routinely unable to access schools, hospitals, and other essential services.

Housing has become the most direct and intense site of attacks against children. In the first four months of this year, over 2,500 Palestinians, including 1,100 children, were forcibly displaced, already exceeding the total number of displacements recorded for the entire year of 2025.

Let me give an example of what I saw and heard during my recent visit to the West Bank. Eight-year-old Ezzaldin was sleeping outdoors after his house was destroyed two months ago when his village was raided by settlers. He was beaten with a wooden stick, sustaining a head injury and requiring hospitalization. His mother, trying to protect her four-month-old baby from being beaten with a club, put out her hands to shield the baby and suffered fractures in both arms.

A kindergarten in the West Bank after an attack, with children's belongings and books scattered in the classroom (Palestine, May 12, 2026) © UNICEF 2026 Video/UNI990570

Education is also under constant attack. For thousands of children across the West Bank, daily commutes to school are like walking through terror. In 2026 alone, 99 education-related incidents have been recorded, including child casualties, detentions, school destruction, military use of school buildings, and access prohibitions. Over the two years leading up to the end of 2025, more than 550 similar incidents were recorded. Schools, which should be places of safety and stability, are increasingly becoming places of fear. Attacks on schools and actions that impede access to education are serious violations of children's rights, with long-term impacts on their safety, well-being, and future.

Walking with 12-year-old Roaa through her school, destroyed by settlers and Israeli forces, was heartbreaking. It was a place where she should have been celebrating the completion of her sixth grade a few months later, not mourning its destruction. Once again, the school was reduced to rubble.

Roaa told me and showed me every experience she had at school. From her first-grade classroom, to her final year assignments and exams, and the things her teacher used when it got cold.