The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) killed 32 children in the past year as a result of violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem, human rights group Defence for Children International (DCI) has said.

A new report from the organisation found 2016 was the deadliest year on record in the last decade, with 32 Palestinian minors killed during raids and confrontations with the army.

An upswing in violence in Jerusalem in particular since October 2015 - including stabbings and shootings - has killed 36 Israelis.

More than 150 Palestinians have been fatally shot in cases where non-lethal force was not necessary in the same time period, Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted.

Of the Palestinian dead, 19 people were aged 16 - 17, and 13 more were 13 - 15, DCI said.

“Israeli soldiers employ a shoot-to-kill policy... the fact they can do so with impunity and no consequences builds the foundation for such shootings to take place,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Programme Director at DCI Palestine, told Al Jazeera.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada The proclamation of the state of Israel is read by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on 14 May 1948 © EPA Israel: From independence to intifada Sixty years on, an illuminated flag is shown in Tel Aviv this week © PA Israel: From independence to intifada Young Jews celebrate the proclamation of the state of Israel in 1948 © AFP/Getty Images Israel: From independence to intifada Palestinian children throw stones at a retreating Israeli tank during an incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin in August 2003 following a suicide bombing in Jerusalem © AP Israel: From independence to intifada How Israel's borders have changed - click image to enlarge © Independent Graphics Israel: From independence to intifada From 1948-50, the world's mostcelebrated war photographer Robert Capa captured extraordinary imagesof Israel's pioneering settlers. Here, Turkish immigrants arrive in Haifa © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada The Negba kibbutz, where the walls have been damaged by shells fired during the Israeli-Arab war © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to DCI, 28 Palestinian civilians under 18 were killed in 2015, 13 in 2014, and four in 2013.

Only one manslaughter investigation into the death of an unarmed 17-year-old boy at a protest has been opened in the last three years. The trial is still in progress.