Israel is accused of several possible war crimes in the West Bank in a BBC investigation

BBC has gained access to the medical records of 112 Palestinian children who were shot and killed in the West Bank between January 2023 and January 2024. The channel found that 98 percent of them had injuries to the upper body.

In connection with the survey of the murder of two Palestinian boys on 29 November, the channel has found several pieces of evidence which indicate that serious human rights violations have been committed.

Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, says BBC that the killing of the one boy seems to be a war crime.

It concerns then eight-year-old Adam, who was shot by Israeli forces in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

He was standing with his older brother Baha and around seven other boys in the street when an Israeli military convoy drove past a few hundred meters away.

Eleven shots

Mobile videos show that several of the boys were scared, and that several of them tried to get away. Then you can see the front door open on an armored vehicle, before at least eleven shots are heard.

The BBC has been to the scene and also seen records, and found that Adam was shot in the back of the head while running. His friend Basil was killed by two shots in the chest.

Before he was shot, you can see on the video that Basil was holding something in his hand. The Israeli army (IDF) later shared a photo from the scene of what they claim is an explosive device.

– For Adam, it appears to be a violation of the prohibitions in international law against premeditated, arbitrary or disproportionate attacks against civilians, a war crime and a violation of the human right to life, says Saul to the BBC.

The IDF says the boys were about to throw explosives at them and that the soldiers were in danger. The matter is being investigated internally, it says.

Should be a last resort

According to Unicef, a total of 124 children were killed in the occupied West Bank in 2023, 85 of them after 7 October. So far this year, 36 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in the West Bank.

The high proportion of children who have been shot in the upper body may mean that Israeli soldiers in these cases have shot to kill rather than wound, writes the BBC.

The IDF will not state its exact procedures, but both former and current soldiers tell the BBC that the use of lethal force should be a last resort when soldiers are in danger.

Before this, the soldiers are supposed to first give a verbal warning, before using non-lethal weapons such as tear gas and finally shooting at the legs.

Former IDF soldiers who have seen the BBC’s findings say they believe the Israeli judiciary will protect soldiers who have killed, regardless of whether it was necessary or not.