Mon Feb 17 15:12:55 UTC 2025: ## Israeli Military’s Killing of Palestinian Children Ignored by International Community, Critics Say

**RAMALLAH, WEST BANK** – The systematic killing and dehumanization of Palestinian children by Israeli forces is being ignored by the international community, critics charge. The deaths of children like 10-year-old Saddam Rajab, shot by an Israeli soldier in February, are routinely downplayed or ignored by Western media, fueling accusations of a deliberate campaign to dehumanize Palestinian children.

Saddam’s death, captured on CCTV footage, highlights the brutality faced by Palestinian children. He was shot while standing in front of his home and subsequently taunted by a soldier at a checkpoint. His case is one of at least 13 Palestinian child deaths at the hands of Israeli forces since the start of the year, and over 220 since January 2023.

This pattern of violence, critics argue, is exacerbated by a deliberate campaign of “unchilding,” a term coined by Palestinian academic Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian to describe the portrayal of Palestinian children as adults or threats, thus justifying the violence against them.

Examples cited include the reporting of six-year-old Hind Rajab’s death, where international coverage, while present, still referred to her as a “woman,” and the description of four-year-old Ruqaya Ahmad Odeh Jahalin as a “young lady” – both attempts to strip them of their childhood innocence and minimize the severity of their deaths.

The systematic dehumanization extends beyond death, critics argue. The imprisonment of Palestinian children, like 14-year-old Ayham al Salaymeh, who served time for allegedly throwing stones, is presented as a justifiable security measure, not the violation of a child’s rights. Israel is the only country that systematically prosecutes and imprisons children in this manner.

The lack of international condemnation and media attention to these killings, the critics conclude, constitutes complicity in the ongoing violence against Palestinian children. The systematic disregard for their lives, they say, highlights a deeper issue of systemic dehumanization at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Read More