Two Palestinian Children Killed Amidst Escalating Tensions

Gaza/Ramallah, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) – Two Palestinian children were killed on Tuesday in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as tensions with Israel continue to rise. The incidents have drawn renewed international criticism, particularly regarding Israeli settlement policy and the safety of civilians.

Child Killed in Gaza Airstrike

12-year-old Youssef Asaliya was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia, located in the northern Gaza Strip. Xinhua reports his body was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City. Mina News identified the boy as Rassem Yousef Asaliya, 14, and stated the attack was carried out by an Israeli drone.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip “identified a terrorist who crossed the Yellow Line and approached the troops, posing an imminent threat to their safety,” and that the terrorist was “eliminated in order to remove the threat.”

Child Killed by Unexploded Ordnance in West Bank

In the West Bank, another Palestinian child was killed and another seriously injured due to the explosion of unexploded ordnance left behind by the Israeli army in the central Jordan Valley. The IDF confirmed soldiers were dispatched to the area following a report of three Palestinians injured while “playing with unexploded ordnance.”

Rising Death Toll and Ceasefire Violations

Gaza-based health authorities reported on Monday that Israel had killed 603 Palestinians and injured 1,618 others in the Gaza Strip since a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, 2025. This brings the total death toll since the outbreak of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, to 72,063, with 171,726 others injured. YemenExtra notes that the ceasefire agreement has been repeatedly violated by the Israeli army.

International Condemnation and Calls for Peace

The violence coincided with renewed international criticism of Israeli settlement policy. Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, warned that “accelerating the dispossession of Palestinians & expanding Israeli settlements will do nothing to bring long-needed stability & peace to the region.” He added that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Israel to “reverse these measures,” urging all parties to “preserve the only path to lasting peace, a negotiated two-State solution in line with international law.”

Israel seized control of the West Bank after the 1967 war and has established settlements there, a move deemed illegal by the international community.