Rayan Ibrahim Hasan Al-Sayed, 14, was killed by Israeli forces on October 14, 2024. (Photo: Courtesy of the Al-Sayed family)
Ramallah, October 15, 2024—Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian child during a military incursion into Jenin yesterday morning.
Rayan Ibrahim Hasan Al-Sayed, 14, was shot twice by an Israeli soldier positioned inside a heavily armored Israeli military vehicle from a distance of about 20 meters (66 feet) away around 11:40 a.m. on October 14 near the entrance to the Old City of Jenin, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine. Rayan was allegedly throwing stones toward heavily armored Israeli military vehicles driving through the main street when one of the vehicles stopped and a soldier inside shot him. Several young Palestinians transported Rayan in a private car to Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin. He was immediately taken into surgery to attempt to control the bleeding in his lungs, but doctors pronounced him dead around 1:45 p.m.
“Palestinian children like Rayan grow up in a hypermilitarized environment where Israeli forces regularly carry out incursions to arrest, injure, and kill Palestinians, including children,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “World leaders have continually refused to hold Israeli forces accountable for killing Palestinian children with abandon, paving the way for Israeli soldiers to continue their killing spree with no consequence.”
Rayan sustained two gunshot wounds, one on the left side of his chest and one in the neck, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
Israeli special forces entered Jenin refugee camp in civilian vehicles with Palestinian license plates around 10 a.m. on Monday and surrounded a house with wanted individuals inside. Armed Palestinians confronted the Israeli special forces, and Israeli military reinforcements, accompanied by military bulldozers, arrived shortly after.
Palestinian schoolchildren were unable to reach their homes during the incursion. Students from Al-Zahra Secondary School for Girls and Burhan Al-Din Al-Abushi School for Girls, both located on the street leading to Jenin Governmental Hospital and Jenin refugee camp, were transported to Al-Noor School for the Blind, located in the Suweitat neighborhood in the eastern part of Jenin. Students from Al-Karama Primary School were transferred to a Palestinian Authority camp located in Hursh Al-Saada.
The incursion lasted until 6:30 p.m. Israeli forces destroyed civilian infrastructure, including roads, and created a power outage in Jenin refugee camp and several nearby neighborhoods. Israeli forces injured at least four Palestinians and killed two, including Rayan.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 85 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
166 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to documentation collected by DCIP, when the Israeli military began a full-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
In 2023, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 121 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 103 Palestinian children with live ammunition, 13 Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a U.S.-sourced Apache attack helicopter, and one child was killed in an Israeli warplane airstrike.
Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present. However, investigations and evidence collected by DCIP regularly suggest that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.