Deaths of children on both sides of this conflict have been recorded and published by the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem since the beginning of the second Intifada in September, 2000. These tragic data can be viewed online, organized in side-by-side columns, month-by-month, providing the name, age, and cause of death of each victim.
Conflict-related deaths of children since start of 2nd Intifada through 2010
Year
Israeli children killed
Palestinian children killed
Sept-Dec, 2000
0
91
2001
36
103
2002
45
201
2003
21
141
2004
8
188
2005
6
56
2006
2
139
2007
1
68
2008
4
160
2009
1
295
2010
0
15
TOTALS
124
1,457
Almost all Israeli deaths occurred from suicide bombings, which were discontinued by Hamas in 2005. These were the only deaths within Israel. In addition, a few Israeli children have been killed by gunfire within the occupied territories, typically in response to settler violence.
Four dead babies
Operation Cast Lead
His 4-year old daughter
Palestinian children died from a variety of lethal IDF actions, most frequently by gunfire and often gunfire to the head indicating deliberate targeting by snipers. Veteran war correspondent Chris Hedges reports that he has never seen children lured into the open and killed in this way in any other armed conflict.
From September 2000 through January 2001, 93 Palestinian children were killed before the first Israeli child died. Before the first suicide bombing in March 2001, which killed two Israeli teenagers, 105 Palestinian children had been killed by Israel.
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From 2005 after suicide bombings were discontinued through 2014, 1282 Palestinian and 24 Israeli children were killed. Altogether from September 2000 through 2014, 1656 Palestinian and 131 Israeli children have been killed. During the period of suicide bombings, Israel killed an average of 75 Palestinian children each year. After suicide bombings stopped, Israel has killed an average of 92 Palestinian children each year. Israel's massive attacks on Gaza in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014 were supposedly in retaliation for homemade qassam rockets, which serve primarily as harrassment to prevent Israelis from living comfortably on the spoils of Palestinian dispossession. But occasionally the qassams do hit someone which, on average, have killed just two Israelis per year. Thus, Israeli violence appears inversely proportional to threats of Palestinian violence.
The killing of Palestinian children is essentially random with its unpredicatability a potent form of terrorism. The domination and intimidation of caretakers and emasculaion of Palestinian fathers unable to protect their families is clearly intended to demoralize the Palestinian population and induce eventual submission or flight.
As the children grow into teenagers and young adults, the killing is often more deliberate and targeted. Palestinians describe Arabic-speaking Israeli death squads penetrating their communities to kill and disable emerging young leaders. In the decade since the beginning of the second intifada from September 2000 through 2010, Israel committed 850 political assassinations in addition to many thousands imprisoned.
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