Three Palestinian teenagers have been killed in the occupied West Bank this week, the latest being 15-year-old Youssef Shtayyeh, who was shot in Nablus and mourned in the village of Tell. Israel’s military says troops fired during an attempted arrest after alleged rock-throwing, while rights groups and local officials warn of growing violence and impunity. The U.N. reports at least 40 Palestinians have been killed so far this year, including a record number by settlers.
Third Palestinian Teenager Killed in West Bank This Week as Violence Surges
Mourners gather around the bodies of Aws al-Na'san and Jihad Abu Naim, residents of the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, at the hospital's morgue in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Three Palestinian teenagers have been killed in the occupied West Bank this week amid a renewed surge of violence, the most recent shot dead by Israeli forces during a midweek raid.
In the northern West Bank village of Tell, residents held mourning rituals on Friday for 15-year-old Youssef Shtayyeh after health officials said he was gunned down by Israeli forces in nearby Nablus. Mourners waved Palestinian flags and carried the boy's sheathed body through village streets, chanting and reciting religious verses.
Mourners take the last look at the body of Aws al-Na'san, 14, during his joint funeral procession with Jihad Abu Naim, 32, in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Israel’s military confirmed the fatality, saying its troops fired after attempting to detain a Palestinian they allege had hurled rocks toward them. The military did not explain why its forces were operating in Nablus, the West Bank’s second-largest city, which is governed by the Palestinian Authority.
Shtayyeh was at least the fourth Palestinian killed this week by Israeli settlers or soldiers, with other shootings reported across the West Bank in Hebron, al-Mughayyir and Deir Dibwan. Palestinians, human rights groups and international observers have warned of a widening pattern of violence that includes arson, vandalism and the displacement of farming communities near settlements and outposts.
Ramallah Mayor Leila Ghannam said at one funeral that the wave of attacks pointed to a broader sense of impunity in the territory, declaring: “Settlers and the army are one and the same.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 40 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, including a record 11 killed by settlers — two more than in all of 2025. Rights groups and international observers continue to call for independent investigations into the recent fatalities and for measures to protect civilians across the occupied West Bank.
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