Airstrike on Gaza tent marks fourth Palestinian child killed in six days by Israeli forces

Four Palestinian children have reportedly been killed and several injured by Israeli forces over the past six days, including a 10 year old in a tent in Gaza today, said Save the Children. The child rights organisation called once again for urgent international intervention

Gaza medics said four people were killed in the airstrike today including a 10 year old child, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, another child in Gaza was reportedly killed fetching water on Friday; and a 16 year old boy was killed, along with two other children injured by gunfire from Israeli forces during a military raid in Qalandia refugee camp in the West Bank, according to the Ministry of Health. On Tuesday a child was reportedly killed and others were injured in a drone strike on a vehicle south of Gaza City.

A four-month-old baby also reportedly died in the West Bank on Sunday after his transfer to access urgent medical care was delayed for more than an hour at an Israeli military checkpoint west of Ramallah.

The latest deaths come two weeks after the UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children. The total number of children killed by Israeli forces since the report’s publication is now at least 11.

Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children's Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe said:

"The killing today of another child should not just be another statistic - this is a precious life that has survived 1000 days of war, displacement and hunger only to be shattered in seconds. This child was a family’s whole world.

“In just two weeks, 11 more Palestinian children have been killed in cold blood, and another’s life cut short as he waits for lifesaving care. Children are meant to be off-limits in war – this is the rule of law. Yet the world, in its disgraceful inaction, is sending the message that Palestinians are exempt.

"Despite the alarm bells, despite the reports and the data, Israeli forces are getting away with killing children so regularly that the world barely seems to blink an eyelid.

Whether by bullets or by being denied access to lifesaving medical care, each death reflects a profound failure to protect children. This is total impunity. The indiscriminate targeting of Palestinian children must end now."

ENDS

CONTACT: media.team@savethechildren.org.au

Notes to editors

Save the Children calls on all governments to cease the transfer of arms to the Government of Israel, and to comply fully with the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. Member states must intervene to prevent atrocity crimes from continuing throughout the occupied Palestinian territory and refrain from complicity in them—immediately and without delay.

Save the Children has worked in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1953, with a permanent presence since 1973. We work with partners to help provide quality education, protection for children, early childhood development support, and employment opportunities for young people.

Together with our partners, Save the Children helped nearly 890,000 people in the oPt in 2025, including almost 430,000 children. As of May 2026, we have supported over 218,000 people, including over 107,000 children in Gaza, through our multisectoral programming.

Airstrike on Gaza tent marks fourth Palestinian child killed in six days by Israeli forces

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