Israeli soldiers shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a military incursion into the West Bank city of al-Bireh on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The ministry identified the victim as Amir Ahmad Jawad Jaber, a resident of East Jerusalem, who was struck by live fire to the head and chest. The Israeli military stated that its forces were operating in the area when a violent disturbance erupted, including stone-throwing at troops, and that soldiers responded with gunfire. The incident, it added, is under investigation.

Palestinian officials condemned the killing in stark terms. Laila Ghannam, the governor of Ramallah and al-Bireh, described it to Agence France-Presse as “a clear execution in broad daylight” and accused international institutions of ignoring what she called a daily campaign of terror. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews transported the teenager to hospital in critical condition before he was pronounced dead. Dozens of mourners gathered at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where relatives paid their last respects.

The death adds to a sharp rise in child fatalities documented by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. In a report published on the same day, the organisation recorded that 235 Palestinian minors have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since 7 October 2023, with 54 killed in 2025 alone—more than four times the annual average between 2005 and 2021. B’Tselem attributes the surge to a loosening of the Israeli military’s rules of engagement, first announced in late 2021, which authorised lethal fire against individuals throwing stones while fleeing, and further expanded after the Hamas attack. The group examined the circumstances of the 54 minors killed in 2025 and found that only two were armed with firearms at the time; at least 21 were not involved in any confrontation. The Israeli military has said it does not intentionally target uninvolved civilians and that all reports are reviewed and investigated. However, B’Tselem notes that no soldier has been indicted for the killing of a Palestinian in the West Bank since October 2023.

Violence across the occupied West Bank has escalated sharply since the outbreak of the Gaza war. According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Authority data, at least 1,085 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since 7 October 2023, while official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during military operations. The commander of the Israeli military’s Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, recently stated that “we are killing like we haven’t since 1967” and claimed that 96 per cent of those killed were involved in terrorist activity—an assertion B’Tselem called “a brazen lie”. The investigation into Monday’s shooting is ongoing, and no further details on the soldier’s account have been released.