Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 21, 2026 10:52 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday after Israeli settlers and soldiers opened fire, witnesses said, while in Gaza health officials said two Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes.

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.

Amin Abu Ulaya, head of the local council, told Reuters that settlers and soldiers had entered the village and opened fire at a school, first against the students and later others who arrived at the scene.

The Israeli military said forces were deployed to the al‑Mughayyir area after reports that stones were thrown at an Israeli vehicle carrying civilians and a reserve soldier, who exited the car and opened fire at "suspects" in the area.

Upon arrival, soldiers worked to disperse what the military described as a violent confrontation.

People react as the bodies of 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan and 32-year-old Jihad Abu Naim who were killed after a settler opened fire, according to local authorities, are carried outside a hospital in Ramallah on Tuesday. (Mohammed Torokman/Reuters)

The military said it was aware of claims that two Palestinians were killed and others were wounded, adding that the incident was under review.

"This led to the killing of a student and another person," said Abu Ulaya, describing scenes of panic in the village as parents raced to the school in search of their children.

Surge in violence

The shooting in al-Mughayyir, about 25 kilometres north of Ramallah, is the latest in what human rights groups have described as a surge in violence against Palestinians waged by Israeli settlers and soldiers.

Kathem Al-Haj-Ahmed, 57, an al-Mughayyir resident, said the settlers arrived first, attacking the village school.

"This is our reality in al-Mughayyer village; they aim to displace us, and both the army and the settlers are exchanging roles among them," he told Reuters.

The village 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.

WATCH | Residents, activists report surge in violence:

Some Israeli officials have condemned "Jewish rioters" in the West Bank while also saying that a fringe minority was behind the violence. Other officials have backed the settlers and called for expanding the settlements.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are deemed illegal by the United Nations and most countries. Palestinians hope the West Bank will be part of a future independent state.

The expansion of West Bank settlements has surged under the current right-wing Israeli government, with some ​700,000 Jewish settlers now living there, among some 2.7 million Palestinians.

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.

WATCH | Critics call out Israeli government earlier this year for 'de facto annexation':

But rights groups caution that the distinction can be blurred. The Israeli advocacy group Yesh Din, which tracks violence in the West Bank, has reported that lethal violence is increasingly being carried out by "settler-soldiers" from reserve battalions, both when they're working and when they're off duty.

"The availability of uniforms and firearms has given a vast number of settlers, some of them with a history of ideologically motivated offenses, the opportunity to engage in illegal acts against Palestinians, using military equipment, whether by abusing their powers while on duty or off duty altogether," it said in a February report titled "Settlers in Uniform."

Yesh Din noted an active duty reservist wearing civilian clothing opened fire in the village of Deir Jarir — also northeast of Ramallah — in December. Israel's military also opened an investigation into a reservist who shot and killed a Palestinian in the same village on April 11.