West Bank, Oxfam: Israel has killed 268 children in three years
UN data reveals an escalation of violence that has displaced 46,000 people. Over the past 20 years, one in every five people killed in the region has been a child
A new report by Oxfam highlights the exponential rise in attacks by Israeli settlers and military forces in the occupied West Bank: in the first few months of 2026 alone, there were over 540 incidents and ‘in three years, the number of Palestinian civilians killed has exceeded that of the previous 17 years’, mainly children.
The report by the international confederation of non-profit organisations dedicated to reducing global poverty reinforces the accusation of ethnic cleansing as a ‘state project’ levelled by Amnesty International against Israel.
According to the Oxfam report, based on an analysis of data provided by the United Nations, ‘it is clear that Israel’s annexation plan is accelerating, with mass forced displacements, increased restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement and anunprecedented escalation of violence by settlers and the army’.
A plan of ethnic cleansing and annexation which, since 2023, has caused over 46,000 people to be displaced, and the construction of over 925 barriers that prevent 3 million people from moving freely. And an unprecedented wave of violence that has claimed over 1,200 lives, including nearly 270 children.
Since 2006, one in five homicides has involved a minor
In particular, between 2006 and 2022, the number of victims – as Oxfam points out — totalled 1,036, including 225 children, whilst since 2023 alone 1,244 have been recorded, with 268 children killed. This means that, over the last 20 years, one in five killings involved a child, around 22 per cent.
