Residents of al-Mughayyir in the central occupied West Bank on Wednesday buried two Palestinians — including a 14-year-old boy — killed in an Israeli settler attack near a school, as military raids and tensions gripped the town.
Mourners gathered to bid farewell to Aws Hamdi al-Nasan, 14, and Jihad Marzouq Abu Naeem, 32, who were killed a day earlier when illegal Israeli settlers attacked the area, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Three others were also wounded in the attack, which took place near a school in the town.
Witnesses said Israeli forces were heavily deployed around al-Mughayyir during the funeral and repeatedly raided the town, while dozens of settlers gathered on its outskirts.
As mourners marched through the streets, an Israeli military vehicle reportedly drove into the crowd, which residents described as a deliberate provocation.
Young men threw stones, and Israeli forces responded with tear gas before pulling back.
‘He was killed at school’
Rehab al-Nasan, the grandmother of Aws, said the teenager was shot twice in the head.
“We moved him from one place to another out of fear for him … but he was killed at school, a place meant to be safe,” she said.
She said the family had long feared for his safety after his father was killed years earlier.
His sister, Talia al-Nasan, described him as an ordinary student focused on school and spending time with friends.
“What happened to him was unfair,” she said, recalling that she learned of his death while she was still at school herself.
School turned into a battlefield
Mohammad Abu Naeem said his cousin Jihad was shot while trying to help the wounded during the attack.
“There was direct gunfire. Suddenly, Jihad fell in front of me. We could not save him,” he said.
School principal Issam Abu Assaf said teachers tried to keep students inside and prevent panic as gunfire erupted outside.
He said Israeli forces also fired tear gas toward students, causing several cases of suffocation, while one student was hit by live ammunition.
“More than 20 students from the school have been killed in recent years,” he said.
Residents said the killings were part of a broader pattern of repeated settler violence, including assaults, land theft and attacks on homes, carried out alongside ongoing Israeli military incursions.
The town remains under siege, with residents fearing more attacks.
Since October 2023, at least 1,133 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, nearly 11,700 wounded and close to 22,000 arrested, according to Palestinian figures.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and called for the dismantling of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
