Among Them 19 Children
“Union for Justice”: Israel Killed 70 Palestinians in the West Bank During the First Half of This Year
14/7/2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
The Union for Justice Foundation said that during the first half of this year, the Israeli army and settler militias killed 70 Palestinians in the West Bank and 4 Palestinians from the territories occupied in 1948, including 19 children under the age of 18 and 3 women.
It added: “Alongside the massacres that have continued around the clock in the Gaza Strip, the situation in the West Bank was not much different, as the occupation forces continued to kill Palestinians systematically, confirming that the criminality of the occupying state does not require any pretexts.”
During 2025, the Israeli army and settler militias killed 260 Palestinians in the West Bank and 2 in the territories occupied in 1948, including 65 children under the age of 18 and 11 women.
Killing Under Official Cover
Recently, the commander of the Israeli army’s Central Command, Avi Bluth, expressed pride in the unprecedented rise in the number of Palestinians killed by his army in the West Bank.
Avi Bluth acknowledged that the army has been carrying out killings in the West Bank at an unprecedented level since its occupation in 1967, describing what is taking place as a policy of “precise aggression” aimed at preventing a large-scale operation in the West Bank similar to the October 7 operation.
Bluth revealed that the army had killed 1,500 Palestinians in the West Bank over the past three years, claiming that 96% of them were involved in resistance activities against the occupation and that 70% were carrying firearms when they were targeted.
Bluth described Palestinians throwing stones in the West Bank as “terrorism,” stating that the Israeli army killed 42 Palestinians for throwing stones during 2025.
Martyrs by Governorate
Regarding the distribution of the martyrs across the Palestinian governorates, the Union for Justice explained that Hebron topped the list with 16 martyrs, followed by Nablus Governorate with 14 martyrs, then Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate with 14 martyrs, and Jerusalem Governorate with 7 martyrs.
Meanwhile, 6 citizens were martyred in Tubas Governorate, 5 in Jenin Governorate, 3 in Qalqilya Governorate, 2 in Jericho and the Jordan Valley, 2 in Salfit Governorate, and 1 in Bethlehem.
In addition to the 70 martyrs killed in the West Bank, 4 others from the territories occupied in 1948 were martyred, including three who died in Israeli prisons as a result of medical negligence and direct assault. They are: Hassan Issa Al-Qasha’leh (26) from the city of Rahat, Imad Rajeh Sarhan (47) from the city of Haifa, and Saber Al-Amital (21) from the Negev. All of them were detainees imprisoned on security-related charges connected to resisting the occupation.
Meanwhile, on June 7 of last month, the Israeli police killed Omar Yassin (21) from the city of Tayibe, claiming that he had carried out a shooting attack in the settlement of “Kokhav Ya’ir,” south of Tayibe.
Martyrs of Settler Attacks
According to the monitoring and documentation of the Union for Justice, settlers killed 15 citizens during the first half of this year in deadly attacks they launched against Palestinian villages and towns, whereas the whole of 2025 witnessed the martyrdom of 16 citizens, indicating an alarming escalation and noticeable increase in deadly settler attacks.
Of the 15 martyrs killed by settlers, 7 were from Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate: Thaer Farouq Hamayel (24) and Fare’ Joudat Hamayel (57), both from the village of Abu Falah; Ayed Izzat Arar (60) from Qarawat Bani Zeid; Ali Majed Hamadneh (23) from the village of Deir Jarir; Aws Hamdi Al-Naasan (14) and Jihad Marzouq Abu Naim (32), both from the village of Al-Mughayyir; and Awda Atef Awawdeh (25) from the village of Deir Dibwan.
Three were from Nablus Governorate: Faheem Taha Muammar (47) and Mohammad Taha Muammar (52), both from the village of Qaryut, and Amir Mu’tasim Mahmoud Odeh (28) from the village of Qusra.
Two were from Jerusalem Governorate: Nasrallah Mohammad Jamal Abu Siyam (19) from the village of Mikhmas and Mohammad Faraj Al-Malhi (38) from the village of Sharafat.
Two were from Hebron Governorate: Amir Mohammad Shnaran (27) from the town of Yatta and Mohammad Majdi Al-Jaabari (16).
One martyr was from Salfit Governorate: Qusai Ibrahim Ali Rayan (29) from the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, who died inside Israeli prisons after succumbing to wounds sustained from settler gunfire on April 15, 2026, near the town of Deir Istiya.
The first half of this year also witnessed the execution of Ali Khaled Sayel Bani Odeh (37), his wife Waad Othman Aql Bani Odeh (35), and their two children, Mohammad (5 years old) and Othman (7 years old), after members of the Israeli special forces opened fire on the vehicle they were travelling in in the town of Tammun, Tubas Governorate.
Israeli occupation soldiers also killed seven-month-old infant Sam Fahd Abu Haikal after opening machine-gun fire on a civilian vehicle travelling in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron, resulting in the infant’s death and the injury of his father.
The Ease of Pulling the Trigger
The Union for Justice Foundation believes that the increase in the number of martyrs in the West Bank is a practical reflection of a new policy adopted by the Israeli army, particularly after October 7, 2023, based on greater leniency in opening fire on Palestinians even when they pose no real threat.
The Foundation believes that killing Palestinians has become an objective in itself for the Israeli army, which enjoys political and judicial support from a government formed by the far-right, in the absence of any form of international accountability for Israel, which sees itself as having complete freedom of action.
The Foundation indicates that the occupying state carries out killings for political reasons with the aim of intimidating Palestinians and forcing them to leave their places of residence in service of its expansionist settlement projects in the West Bank.
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