New IAM investigation claims B'Tselem report ‘demonizes Israel by rebranding terrorists as minors’

ByALEX CARSONAUGUST 3, 2026 20:56Updated: AUGUST 3, 2026 21:21The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem published a report in late June 2026 titled Unshielded Childhood, which cataloged and analyzed the deaths of 54 Palestinian minors killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank during 2025. The report immediately circulated widely through global media outlets, framing the fatalities as an unprovoked pattern of systemic state violence.However, a meticulous, case-by-case counter-investigation conducted over 100 hours by Joseph Cohen and the Israel Advocacy Movement (IAM) "reveals that the report fundamentally distorts reality by rebranding active combatants and terrorists as innocent children."IAM's investigation relied on four rigorous data points to verify the true identity and circumstances of each casualty: official "martyr" (Shaheed) posters published by militant groups, real-time Telegram communications between militants and locals, open-source news footage, and official statements or records from the Israeli military and police.While B'Tselem's June 2026 publication categorized roughly 60 percent of the deceased as uninvolved or undetermined, the counter-analysis uncovered a vastly different statistical breakdown for 2025.Around 20% of individuals in B'Tselem dataset tied to terrorist orgs.According to the findings, at least 20 percent of the individuals included in B'Tselem's dataset were militants, many of whom belonged to the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), while other terror groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued martyr posters claiming the other individuals were affiliated with their groups. Furthermore, according to the report, approximately 78 percent were actively participating in hostilities against Israeli security forces or civilians, including gunfights, car rammings, and hurling improvised explosive devices, firebombs, or heavy concrete blocks. The investigation demonstrated that 63 percent of the casualties were 15 years of age or older, and only two were female. The IAM investigation pointed to several examples to challenge B'Tselem's findings. B'Tselem highlighted 17-year-old Rida Bani Odeh by providing a sentimental quote describing him as an "innocent boy with a tender heart who had all the beautiful qualities." The IAM report emphasized his status as a prominent member of PIJ by providing a martyr picture of Bani Odeh distributed by PIJ holding a gun, who was killed alongside armed operatives during a firefight.Similarly, while B'Tselem stated it could neither verify nor refute Israeli allegations regarding six individuals killed while throwing Molotov cocktails, the IAM report highlighted explicit IDF footage allegedly showing teenagers Muhammad Atim and Muhammad Qassem actively hurling firebombs at civilian highway traffic.In the case of 15-year-old Muhammad Abu Ayash, Hamas martyr posters explicitly identified him as “its youth martyr” killed while throwing firebombs, Cohen said in a video on the investigation that such posters serve as "a tacit admission that they recruit and use child soldiers," while B'Tselem claimed they were unable to determine that they had thrown firebombs.B'Tselem report contains discrepancies between text, data chartsAccording to the IAM investigation, B'Tselem's report contained internal discrepancies where its written text conflicted with its own data charts. The IAM report alleged that these figures do not match up, pointing out instances where B'Tselem's text stated that 5 thirteen-year-olds were killed while their dataset records 3, and claimed 16 sixteen-year-olds while their charts showed 14.Joseph Cohen told The Jerusalem Post in a statement that “The death of any minor is tragic and should be thoroughly investigated, as is standard Israeli procedure. However, by mixing innocent casualties with active combatants from terror groups, B’Tselem has done a disservice to any genuine victims, weaponizing their deaths to shield combatants and demonize Israel on the global stage.”Follow us on Google