The Israeli occupation forces have killed around 2,000 Palestinian children since the start of the Second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada in September 2000, Anadolu reported on Friday. The figure was provided by Defence of Children International.

On average, that means a Palestinian child has been killed by a uniformed Israeli every three days for the past 18 years. It is a shocking statistic.

Ayed Qteesh, the director of the NGO’s Palestine Branch, told Anadolu that the Israelis also arrest and imprison around 700 Palestinian children every year. He alleged that the occupation security forces put Palestinian children before mock courts and treat them badly in order to extract “confessions” from them.

Interview: ‘My name is not Ahmad at the checkpoint. I am number 36.’

The rights group’s latest report said that the Israeli occupation authorities have arrested more than 14,000 Palestinian children since the start of the Second Intifada, of whom 350 are still being held in prison.

Defence of Children International’s report was issued on the occasion of the International Day of Palestinian Children on 5 April.

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