Israeli Settlers and Soldiers Kill Two Palestinians Near al-Mughayyir School in West Bank

Israeli settlers and Israeli soldiers opened fire near a school in the village of al-Mughayyir in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, according to Palestinian officials and multiple outlets.

The BBC reported that Mayor of al-Mughayyir Amin Abu Alia said around 10 settlers approached the village along with soldiers and started shooting towards a school, and that Aws al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Abu Naim, 32, were killed by soldiers.

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The BBC added that the Palestinian health ministry blamed "settler gunfire," while Israel’s military said it dispatched soldiers after a report of stones being thrown towards an Israeli car carrying civilians, including a reservist who got out and "opened fire at suspects in the area."

The Israeli military said the soldiers then "acted to disperse the violent confrontation," and that it was aware of casualty reports and that Tuesday’s incident was under review.

CNN similarly said two Palestinians, among them a 14-year-old boy, were shot and killed at a school in the occupied West Bank amid an attack by Israeli settlers, and it described a video showing a man in military fatigues firing at least eight rounds toward the school.

The Guardian reported that the Palestinian health ministry said Aws al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Abu Naim, 32, were killed in the attack on the village of al-Mughayyir, in which three others were wounded, and it said footage showed a settler in military fatigues carrying a rifle as he advanced slowly before crouching and firing at least eight rounds toward the school.

Across the reporting, the trigger for the violence is framed differently, with Israeli statements centering on a report of rocks and Palestinian and eyewitness accounts centering on settlers attacking a school.

The BBC said Israel’s military dispatched soldiers after a report of stones being thrown towards an Israeli car carrying civilians, including a reservist who got out and "opened fire at suspects in the area," and then said the soldiers "acted to disperse the violent confrontation."

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CNN described the Israeli military’s claim that the incident started after rocks were thrown at a vehicle carrying several Israeli passengers, including a reserve soldier, whom the military said "exited the vehicle and opened fire at suspects in the area."

The Guardian likewise said the Israel Defense Forces sent troops to al-Mughayyir after reports that stones had been thrown at an Israeli vehicle carrying civilians and a reservist, who left the car and opened fire at what the military described as “suspects,” and it said soldiers later intervened to break up what it called a violent clash.

Palestinian officials and eyewitnesses, however, described the attack as settlers arriving first and firing toward the school, with the army joining afterward.

Reuters, as quoted by the BBC, included eyewitness Kathem al-Haj Ahmed, 57, saying: "The school was surprised by herds of settlers, who attacked the school along with the army."

The incident drew sharply different reactions and interpretations from Palestinian officials, Israeli military spokespeople, and local school leadership, with multiple named voices describing both the immediate chaos and the broader pattern.

The BBC quoted Labour Minister Tahmina Akhter saying the government would launch an immediate investigation and that "We will hold the owners fully accountable," while it also reported that the UN had called a surge in settler violence and that six were killed in March when it documented more than 200 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage.

CNN included a direct reaction from school principal Bassam Abu-Assaf, who said: "It was a disaster. Everybody was screaming. It was unbelievable. I’m still processing it. I don’t know how long it will take for the teachers and students to overcome the shock," and he added that four others were injured, including students and parents.

The Guardian quoted a witness, Kathem al-Haj Ahmed, 57, saying: "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."

The BBC also carried Kathem al-Haj Ahmed’s framing that "This is our reality in al-Mughayyir village; it's a displacement operation," and it quoted him saying: "They attack us from all sides... and both the army and the settlers are exchanging roles among them."

On the Israeli side, the IDF said it was aware of the claim regarding two Palestinians killed and additional injuries and that the incident was under review, and the Guardian reported that a military source said a reservist had been suspended from reserve duty pending a criminal investigation by military police, with his weapon being confiscated.

Beyond the killings at al-Mughayyir, CNN described a broader spate of attacks on Palestinian schools or schoolchildren in the West Bank in recent days, including a school building razed to the ground and settlers putting up razor wire to block children as young as five from getting to school.

CNN said that in a separate incident, activists said settlers bulldozed a school in Hammamat al-Maleh in the northern Jordan Valley near the village of Tayasir, and it said the area had been targeted by settlers in recent months, forcing its Palestinian inhabitants off the land.

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CNN also reported that activists said settlers were from the same group responsible for building an illegal outpost nearby and using it as a base to launch attacks on Palestinians, and it said that even though the school was within sight of an Israeli military base, soldiers there made no attempt to prevent the demolition.

In a third incident, CNN said settlers from the Karmiel settlement set up razor wire near the village of Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills, blocking young students’ route to school, citing community leader Khaleel Alhathaleen saying: "This road is the main artery upon which the village’s students depend, making its closure a clear violation of their freedom of movement and a direct impediment to the educational process."

The Guardian similarly described the razor wire incident, saying children returned last week to find settlers had fenced off their path to school and that when they tried to pass, residents said soldiers fired teargas and stun grenades, making many children too frightened to return.

The Guardian also said the expansion of West Bank settlements has surged under the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, with about 700,000 settlers now living there among about 2.7 million Palestinians.

The West Bank school attack was reported in the context of the Gaza war and a broader surge in violence, with outlets linking the pattern to displacement, settlement expansion, and ongoing investigations.

The BBC said the UN has called a surge in settler violence and reported that the UN said some 1,750 Palestinians have also been displaced by settler violence and Israeli access restrictions so far this year, while it also described that six were killed in March when the UN documented more than 200 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage.

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The Guardian reported that the Palestinian health ministry says 1,152 Palestinians, including 239 children, have been killed in the West Bank since 7 October 2023, and it said Israel has not prosecuted any Israeli citizen for killing Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since the start of this decade, based on a Guardian analysis of legal data and public records.

RFI, citing AFP, said the Palestinian Authority said Israeli settler gunfire killed two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident and that soldiers were dispatched after a report of rock hurling toward an Israeli vehicle carrying civilians, including a reserve soldier.

In terms of what comes next, multiple outlets emphasized that the incident was under review and that findings would be transferred to relevant authorities, with The Jerusalem Post quoting the IDF: "The incident is under review, and its findings will be transferred to the relevant authorities."

At the same time, political and rights-focused reporting in the provided sources framed the stakes as accountability and the ability to access education, with CNN quoting a Jordan Valley activist group statement that the destruction of the school was "part of a systematic, serious and ongoing violation of the ability of Palestinian girls and boys to exercise their basic right to education."