Rights group says Palestinian youngsters are ‘;more and more targets’, as Israeli army and settler violence soars.
Revealed On 16 Jan 2026
Israeli troops have shot and killed a Palestinian youngster within the occupied West Financial institution, as a wave of intensified Israeli army and settler violence throughout the territory continues.
Mohammed Naasan, 14, was killed on Friday after Israeli forces stormed and opened fireplace within the village of al-Mughayyir, close to Ramallah, assaulting residents.
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Naasan was shot within the again and chest, the Palestinian information company Wafa reported.
The Israeli army mentioned in a press release that troops fatally shot Naasan as a result of he was “working in direction of them carrying a rock”.
The killing got here after Israeli settlers, underneath the safety of the Israeli military, had earlier on Friday stormed an space south of al-Mughayyir and fired dwell rounds, in response to Wafa.
Palestinians throughout the West Financial institution have confronted a wave of intensified Israeli army and settler violence within the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, which has killed greater than 71,000 folks since October 2023.
Specialists say the violence, which is going down amid a push by far-right Israeli politicians to formally annex the West Financial institution, goals to pressure Palestinians out of their houses and communities.
Based on United Nations figures, at the very least 240 Palestinians, together with 55 youngsters, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers final yr alone.
The UN’s humanitarian workplace (OCHA) mentioned greater than 1,800 settler assaults that resulted in casualties or property injury have been additionally recorded in 2025 – a mean of about 5 incidents per day.
That’s the highest common since OCHA started monitoring settler violence in 2006, it mentioned.
Israel’s military routinely fires dwell ammunition, tear fuel, stun grenades and different weapons at Palestinians within the occupied territory, and it typically justifies the assaults by claiming that stones have been being thrown.
Israeli human rights group BTselem has said the army employs an “open-fire coverage” that permits for an “unjustified use of deadly pressure” and “conveys Israel’s deep disregard for the lives of Palestinians”.
Rights advocates even have documented how Palestinian youngsters within the West Financial institution, specifically, have been at heightened danger of Israeli violence underneath the shadow of the Gaza battle.
“Many years of systemic impunity has created a scenario the place Israeli forces shoot to kill with out restrict,” Defence for Youngsters Worldwide-Palestine (DCI-P) said last month after a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli forces within the northern West Financial institution.
“As Palestinian youngsters are more and more targets within the West Financial institution, Israeli forces’ guidelines of engagement seemingly enable direct concentrating on of Palestinian youngsters the place no risk exists to justify using intentional deadly pressure.”
