Palestinians say Israeli army kills two teenagers in West Bank

RAMALLAH: The Israeli army killed two teenagers in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday night, the Palestinian health ministry said, while the army said it opened fire during a “violent riot”.

Omar Mohammad Naji al-Nassan, 19, and Khalil Rasem Khalil Shahada, 16, were shot dead by the Israeli army in the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank, the ministry said.

Amin Abu Alia, the head of the Al-Mughayyir village council, told AFP “Israeli settlers… tried to steal sheep from two homes” in the village, and that following a confrontation, “the Israeli army imposed a siege on the village before raiding its centre”.

He said the Israeli forces placed snipers inside buildings, who “opened live fire on residents who tried to confront the settlers”.

The Israeli army meanwhile said it had “secured the entrance” to the village “in order to facilitate the return of livestock belonging to Israeli civilians that had been found in the area of the village”.

“During the forces’ activity in the area, a violent riot broke out, during which terrorists hurled cinder blocks and stones at the forces,” the army said.

“The forces responded by firing at key instigators in order to remove the threat,” it said, adding that the management of the incident was under review.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the two teenagers were critically wounded by live fire during clashes, Nassan in the neck and Shahada in the back, and were transferred to two hospitals in Ramallah, where doctors pronounced them dead.

AFP footage filmed inside the Ramallah medical centre showed mourners gathering around one of the bodies shrouded in a Palestinian flag.

The mourners carried the remains outside the hospital and chanted “with our souls and our blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for you, martyr. We were created to live in freedom.”

The occupied West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Attacks by settlers on Palestinians have increased and become almost daily. At least 1,105 Palestinians, including a number of militants, have been killed by fire from Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian official figures.

At least 48 Israelis, both civilians and security forces, have been killed in the occupied West Bank in attacks carried out by Palestinians or during clashes with Israeli forces, according to Israeli official figures.