“SHAMS” Center for Human Rights and Democracy Media condemns the systematic targeting of children by the Israeli occupation army in Jenin and its camp being a disgraceful act and an outrageous challenge to the international community. This ongoing aggression has resulted in the tragic deaths of four children: Osama Mohammed Naeem Hajir (16 years old), Mahmoud Fares Quraini (16 years old), Mahmoud Amjad Hamadneh (15 years old), and Wasim Ahed Jeradat (16 years old), along with eight others of varying ages were brutally killed in less than 48 hours.
“SHAMS” Center emphasizes that the Israeli army’s deliberate attacks on civilians in this manner underscore the occupation’s commitment to atrocities in Jenin, reflecting the depth of animosity, malice, and brutality in their pursuit of bloodshed and extermination. These policies are deeply ingrained in Zionist ideology, both in theory and practice, and are rooted in the denial of the other, forming an integral part of the occupation’s ideological doctrine based on extermination, killing, and ethnic cleansing.
These inhumane practices have been consistently evident in every round of aggression, invasion, and war waged against the Palestinian people, with little regard for the innocent civilian children who have consistently borne the brunt of the occupation’s assaults.
“SHAMS” Center emphasizes that the continuous attacks on children in Palestine, including killings, arrests, assaults, torture, and deprivation of education, are part of a deliberate policy by the occupying government to destroy childhood. While children around the world enjoy their childhood in parks and playgrounds, Palestinian children are still being subjected to these atrocities, with the world turning a blind eye.
They endure the harshest suffering due to the occupation’s policies, which deny them their rights to education, entertainment, and a decent life, just like children elsewhere in the world. Moreover, the imprisoned children face various forms of abuse in detention centers and interrogation dungeons, turning these places into symbols of the theft of childhood, innocence, and the distortion of Palestinian childhood reality.
“SHAMS” Center warns about the impact of the Israeli occupation’s policy of targeting Palestinian children on their future and its influence on other children, their behaviors, and their exposure to various cases of tension, fear, and anxiety. This is especially concerning after the loss of their classmates, peers, or friends, leading to a continuous state of anger and quick temper, which negatively affects their behavior, academic performance, and their family and social lives, creating a constant fear of the unknown.
“SHAMS” Center strongly criticizes the silence of international institutions and organizations regarding the crimes committed by the occupation against Palestinian children, whether in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. The most extreme forms of genocide are evident through organized executions and killings of children, depriving them of the basic necessities of life.
All these crimes and grave violations are being met with international silence, reflecting a selective and hypocritical policy in dealing with children’s rights violations and the adoption of double standards by these institutions. This demonstrates their lack of credibility, neutrality, and submission to political pressures from influential countries supporting the Israeli occupation and its aggressive policies.
“SHAMS” Center asserts that the systematic targeting of Palestinian children by the occupying forces constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as the United Nations Security Council resolutions aimed at safeguarding children in times of war and armed conflicts. This includes the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12/8/1949, which explicitly permits the establishment of neutral zones to protect the wounded, sick, combatants, non-combatants, and civilians not involved in hostilities.
This action also violates the same Convention’s Article 17, requiring the establishment of local arrangements for the transfer of vulnerable groups from besieged areas, and Article 24, mandating the protection, support, and education of orphaned or separated children under fifteen.
Furthermore, it contravenes international human rights law, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1989 International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, as well as the United Nations Security Council Resolution No. (1612) of 2005 addressing children in armed conflicts.
Additionally, it disregards the United Nations General Assembly resolutions, including Resolution No. (58/245) concerning the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and Resolution No. (48/157) regarding the protection of children affected by armed conflicts.
“SHAMS” Center urges the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Special Rapporteur on Children in Armed Conflict, the signatories to the Geneva Conventions, the Human Rights Special Rapporteur, UNICEF, the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, governmental and non-governmental entities, to take immediate action and force the Israeli occupation government to cease targeting Palestinian children, refrain from attacking them, stop the organized killings, and ensure their safety away from conflict zones and military operations.