PHOTO ESSAY: 18 young lives have been lost in the West Bank this year

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One child was sitting on her mother’s lap. Another had just stepped outside his home. Another was picking almonds.

The United Nations reports that at least 18 children under the age of 15 have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank this year, marking the third consecutive year child fatalities in the territory have reached the double digits.

Some died during Israeli military raids; others were shot while walking in their neighborhoods, playing outside or staying inside their homes. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since January.

Among the children killed were Layla, 2, shot in Jenin while perched on her mother's lap; Saddam, 10, killed while holding his father’s phone in Tulkarem; Amer, 14, a U.S. citizen from New Jersey whose father said he was shot while picking almonds; Ayman, 12, killed outside his grandfather’s home in Hebron; Rimas, 13, shot in the Jenin refugee camp while playing outside; Ahmad, 14, killed in Sebastia under unclear circumstances; and Mahmoud, 14, one of five people killed in a Jenin missile strike that spared only his father.

Parents cling to the belongings their children left behind — savings books, toys and photographs. They inhale the scent of clothes once worn. Young boys and girls proudly show pendants emblazoned with their dead sibling's face.

Abandoned bikes, silent courtyards and empty bedrooms remain, reminders of absence.

Israeli authorities told The Associated Press that their operations target militants and that soldiers are prohibited from firing at civilians, especially minors.

But the circumstances of the children's deaths call those claims into question. The military says investigations into some of the cases are ongoing, but families report receiving no information about what happened to their children and demand accountability.

Each case is documented with names, ages, locations and circumstances, underscoring both the personal loss and the scale of child casualties in the conflict.

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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.