The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned last week of a spike in violence against children in recent months in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has been waging a large-scale military offensive, and called for an end to the hostilities. UNICEF Regional Director Edouard Beigbeder said in a statement that 13 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the year alone, including seven killed in the wake of Israel’s launch of a large-scale operation in the north of the territory on January 19, including a two-and-a-half-year-old boy whose pregnant mother was also shot.

“UNICEF condemns all acts of violence against children and calls for an immediate cessation of armed activity throughout the occupied West Bank,” Beigbeder said in a statement.

"All civilians must be protected, including every child without exception," he continued.

He added that the increased use of “explosive weapons, airstrikes and demolitions in the Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates – including in refugee camps and other densely populated areas – has caused extensive damage to essential infrastructure, disrupting water and electricity supplies.”

In total, 195 Palestinian children and three Israeli children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October 2023, representing a 200 per cent increase in the number of Palestinian children killed in the area over the past 16 months, compared to the same previous period.

According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, 224 children (218 boys and six girls) were killed between January 2023 and January 2025 in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, representing nearly half of the total of 468 children killed in the area since 2005, when OCHA began documenting such victims.

According to the agency, more than 2,500 Palestinian children were injured in the West Bank between January 2023 and December 2024.

Since January 21, the Israeli army has been waging the major operation, saying it is targeting "terrorist infrastructure" in the northern West Bank areas of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm, where half a million Palestinians live.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the Israeli operation, describing it as "ethnic cleansing" earlier in February.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 70 people have been killed by Israel in the area this year.

According to the United Nations, the operation resulted in the killing of 39 Palestinians and the displacement of 40,000.

In turn, the coordinator of the national and Islamic forces in Jenin, Ragheb Abu Diak, said on Monday that the occupation forcibly displaced more than 90% of the residents of Jenin camp, as more than 20 thousand citizens were displaced and distributed throughout the governorate, its villages and towns, amidst a state of national and social solidarity.

Abu Diak pointed out in a statement to Voice of Palestine Radio that the local authorities are doing their duty to the fullest extent, as support committees have been formed within the civil and official committees, and legal persons, and efforts are being made to collect donations through committees, merchants and local authorities to confront the occupation’s policy against our people.

He added that the occupation completely and partially destroyed and damaged 470 homes.