According to the Palestinian health ministry, Muhammad Fouad Atta al-Bayed, one of the teenagers, succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head following demonstrations in Umm Safa.
Israeli forces have been involved in the deaths of two teenage Palestinian boys in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials, adding to the ongoing violence in the region.
One of the victims, identified as 17-year-old Muhammad Fouad Atta al-Bayed, was fatally shot in the head by Israeli forces during unrest in the village of Umm Safa, which is adjacent to Ramallah. The teenager, hailing from the Jalazone refugee camp north of Ramallah, was rushed to the Istishari Arab Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. During confrontations with residents, Israeli forces allegedly used live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades.
The Israeli army’s account stated that a member of the paramilitary border police unit opened fire in response to masked suspects throwing stones and rocks at Israeli forces. They confirmed that someone was hit by gunfire, but provided no further details. The soldiers asserted that they opened fire after being targeted with stone-throwing and explosives, hitting a suspect who was reportedly involved in throwing a bomb. Palestinian officials have not yet provided their version of events.
Later on the same day, in the Nablus governorate of the occupied West Bank, another shooting incident occurred, resulting in one person dead and another seriously injured, as reported by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan, reporting from Ramallah, noted that there are conflicting accounts of the events that transpired. The Israeli military stated that they had opened fire on a vehicle that attempted a car-ramming attack in Sebastia. The driver was neutralized, and the other suspect was injured and captured. However, the victim’s family contends that the pair were ambushed while driving and did not target soldiers.
The deceased victim from this incident was identified as 18-year-old Fawzi Hani Makhalfeh. The Wafa news agency released a video showing the windshield of the vehicle riddled with bullet holes.
Both killings are part of a year-long period of violence characterized by repeated Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank, which continues without abatement. As of now, the death toll of Palestinians killed this year in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, stands at 202, with 165 of those deaths occurring in the occupied West Bank. Alarmingly, 31 of those killed were under the age of 18.
The situation has escalated under Israel’s far-right government, which assumed power at the beginning of the year and includes prominent figures from Israel’s settler movement, advocating for the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank at the expense of Palestinians.
Recently, in Umm Safa, 24-year-old Abdel-Jawad Hamdan Saleh was also fatally shot in the chest by Israeli forces during a demonstration. In the past, several dozen settlers went on a rampage in the West Bank village, setting fire to vehicles and homes as retaliatory attacks following the deadly shooting of four Israeli settlers at a petrol station between Ramallah and Nablus.
These incidents occurred shortly after six Palestinians were killed in the Jenin refugee camp during a large-scale Israeli military incursion.
The torching of homes and properties in Umm Safa by illegal settlers drew rare condemnation from the Israeli army’s international media spokesman, who referred to the rioting as “acts of terror.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the violence, stating that “torching homes and cars of innocents is inhumane and definitely not Jewish.” He urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn these actions severely.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk also expressed concern, warning that the violence and inflammatory rhetoric are driving Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss.