Defense for Children International (DCI) said on Thursday that Israel has killed 23 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the year. 

The international NGO said that Israeli occupation forces had deliberately shot Palestinian children in the upper body "systematically," in a clear violation of international law. Lethal force, they argued, can only be justified when there is an immediate threat to life or seriously injury. 

In the most recent case, DCI referred to the killing of 15-year-old girl Sadil Ghassan Naghniyeh, who succumbed to a head wound sustained during the Israeli occupation forces' raid on Jenin on Monday. 

According to their documentation, an Israeli soldier fired at the child from inside a military jeep stationed around 150 metres from her family's home at a time when no clashes were taking place. Sadil was in the courtyard filming the troops on her mobile phone when she was shot in the head. She was evacuated to hospital and pronounced dead two days later. 

On the same day, Israeli occupation forces shot dead 14-year-old Ahmed Yousef Ahmed Saqr. According to the NGO, troops shot toward the child from 200 metres when he was in a larger group.  He was hit in the stomach, and he announced his death upon his arrival at the hospital. He was one of seven Palestinians killed in the raid. 

The World Movement referred to the case of the 16-year-old Hudhayfah Amjad Murra from the village of Kafr Malik, near Ramallah. He was wounded on Wednesday by live ammunition, both in the shoulder and in the head, after trying to put out fires set by settlers in the town of Turmus Ayya. His condition is stable.

Another case that DCI examined was that of 16-year-old Ashraf Mahmoud Farahti from the city of Jenin, who was shot by the occupation forces during their storming of Abu Bakr Street in the city center on March 16. During the raid, 14-year-old Omar Awadin was also shot in the back and killed. 

Farahati was wounded in his right eye while he was hiding behind a vehicle. The bullet fragments lodged in his brain and he was taken to a hospital in Ramallah, where he stayed for 65 days, including 20 days in intensive care. The medical staff were unable to intervene surgically to remove the fragments. Unable to move or eat naturally, Farahati was transferred into rehabilitation in Bethlehem. His father says that he does not know whether his child recognizes him, as he is unable to communicate or move his face.