Israeli settler kills two Palestinians
An Israeli settler shot and killed two Palestinians near a school east of Ramallah on Tuesday morning, authorities said, in the latest episode of violence convulsing the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan and 32-year-old Jihad Abu Naim were killed in an attack by settlers on the village of al-Mughayyir that left three others wounded. Kazem Al-Hajj Mohammad, who witnessed the shooting, said that there was a volley of gunfire after settlers and the army arrived.
School administrators told parents to come get their children and were met with more gunfire and tear gas. That’s when the two were killed, he said.
He and other mourners carried the two bodies sheathed in Palestinian flags out of the Ramallah Medical Complex, where the dead and wounded were taken after the shooting. “This is our daily reality,” he said, noting that the role of settlers and the army had become interchangeable amid daily violence, displacement, land grabs and livestock seizures.
Israel’s military said that the gunman was a civilian, an army reservist who wasn’t mobilized. The military said that he hadn’t been arrested, but that the incident was under investigation.
It said that troops had responded to reports of rock-throwing toward an Israeli civilian vehicle. The village, 9 miles (15 kilometres) northeast of Ramallah, has been an epicentre of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, with Palestinians reporting dozens of attacks in 2025, including lethal shootings, arson and vandalism.
The main road leading to al-Mughayyir has been frequently closed by a military gate, and residents say they have gradually lost access to their agricultural lands and olive groves.
Much of the groves were razed during an Israeli army raid last summer, after a Palestinian gunman allegedly opened fire on Israeli settlers grazing sheep near the village. Eight settler outposts now encircle al-Mughayyir, including Adei Ad, which was legalized by Israel’s government in December.
Another 14-year-old, Mohammed Naasan, was killed there in January.
Al-Naasan and Abu Naim are the latest Palestinians to be killed this year in the occupied West Bank, where 10 people have been killed by Israeli settlers - surpassing the total killed by settlers in 2025. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 240 Palestinians were killed in the territory last year, the vast majority by Israel’s military and nine attributed to settlers.
