Palestinian parents horrified by deadly start to 2025 for West Bank children

The National

12-02-2025

Without any hesitation, Shuja Al Saadi, 14, led the way to the scene where his cousin of the same age was killed in an Israeli air strike on the eastern part of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Shuja means brave in Arabic, a name that the small, quiet teen lived up to as he calmly pointed out blood stains across the wall and roof of the outdoor terrace where Ahmad Al Saadi – his cousin and friend– and two others were sitting at the time of the strike, not even a flicker of emotion crossing his face. Shuja's father, Fadi Al Saadi, was far less calm. 'Shuja left only 10 minutes before the strike,' he told The National, taking over from his son to explain the scene. He crouched into a nearby basement to grab a plastic chair still covered in blood, a symbol of how close Shuja came to death. 'Ahmad's father didn't want him to go out that day,' Fadi added, the pain and terror clear on his face. Only an hour and a half later, tragedy struck again for the Al Saadi family in the form of yet another Israeli air strike, which killed paramedic and peace activist Tamam Al Saadi, 27, and Nour Al Saadi, 20, who was reportedly wanted by Israel. Tamam was only just starting a break after rushing to the initial attack. Again, Fadi had to deal with the horror of the aftermath, although he said the strike could have been far worse given the dozens of people crowding the streets after Ahmad's killing. 'They were talking to each other by the wall,' Fadi said, pointing to a dent in the ground where the missile hit. 'Nour was completely burnt. I tried to drag Tamam out of the fire but he was cut in two,' he added. In a crowded basement right next to the scene of his son's killing, Muhyedin Al Saadi, 72, sat holding his walking stick and wearing a fur-rimmed hat, surrounded by family. 'Tamam was on a mission,' he said. 'He was looking to the future, to get married and get a home. His house was under construction. Everything just ended.' 'Israel really surprised us with the strike. They can kill us suddenly – it's different from previous years, even the 2002 invasion was not as ugly as this. It's no longer just soldiers coming in and operating on the streets. It's now sudden, from the skies.' Like many parents across the West Bank, Fadi and Muhyedin have been trying to keep their children particularly close in recent weeks. Just as Israel struck a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, the country launched a massive, seemingly open-ended operation in the north of the West Bank, which it called 'Iron Wall'. It came not long after a weeks-long raid launched by Palestinian Authority security troops, which also shocked the city. Jenin's refugee camp, across the city from the Al Saadi's neighbourhood, was one of the first to be raided in the operation Israel said was targeting terrorists, and Israeli troops remain there, resulting in the displacement of about 16,000 people. It is hard to estimate the exact number of Palestinian deaths in the camp since then, because it is difficult for officials and emergency services to access the area. The most recent spate of violence forms part of a deadly trend for children over the last few years. According to UN organisation OCHA, 224 children have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers since January 2023, almost half of the total 468 child fatalities in the West Bank since it started documenting in 2005. The numbers include 11 children killed by Israeli troops since the beginning of 2025, including six killed in air strikes. Motaz Imad Mousa Abu Tabeekh, 16, was shot by an Israeli sniper on January 21, shortly after troops entered the area. Outside the camp, two-year-old Laila Mohammad Ayman Khatib was killed in her family's sitting room in the village of Muthallath Al Shuhada, just south of Jenin, when Israeli troops fired four bullets through a window, according to NGO Defence for Children Palestine. In the city of Tulkarm, which, like Jenin, has been one of the most raided West Bank cities since October 7, Saddam Hussein Iyad Mohammad Rajab, 10, died last week, 10 days after being shot in the stomach by Israeli troops. Video footage from the scene shows Saddam, alone on a dark street, falling to the ground, clutching his stomach and then screaming in terror realising he had been shot. A man on crutches eventually comes by, raising the alarm, as Saddam lies motionless on the ground. In the city's Nur Shams refugee camp, Sundos Jamal Mohammed Shalabi, 23, who was eight months pregnant, was shot and killed, alongside another 21-year-old woman. Sundos's unborn baby did not survive. These are just some of the children that have been killed since Iron Wall began, a trend that has alarmed even some of Israel's close allies. On Tuesday, France's foreign ministry said it is 'deeply concerned about the many civilian casualties – particularly children – and the people displaced as a result of the Israeli operations in the north of the West Bank'. 'The way the use of force is being employed by the Israeli army in the West Bank is extremely concerning … Children must never be targeted,' the ministry said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request to comment on all the above deaths.