One child was shot while sitting on her mother’s lap. Another, hit by an airstrike as he stepped inside his home. Two others, killed while playing outside with friends.

Israeli gunfire has killed at least eighteen children under the age of 15 in the occupied West Bank this year, according to the United Nations. That follows 29 children killed in 2023 and 23 in 2024 — a surge accompanying the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

Some were killed during Israeli military raids in dense neighborhoods, others by sniper fire in peaceful areas. The killings have risen as the Israeli military has stepped up operations in the occupied West Bank since the war’s onset in what it calls a crackdown on militants.

The Associated Press spoke with several families whose childr

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