Israeli Soldiers Shoot Teenagers in Askar Refugee Camp, Leaving Them Disabled

In the Askar refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Arabic-language reporting and Al Jazeera accounts describe families avoiding outdoor gathering near the “olive tree area” as Israeli soldiers pose a threat.

“Nablus, occupied West Bank – Islam Madani says families and young people from the Askar refugee camp would once congregate beneath the olive trees on the slopes of Tel Askar, a hilly area in the north of the occupied West Bank which is home to the camp”

Al Jazeera

Oz Arab Media says fear has taken hold in the camp, with local father Islam Madani describing that the once-popular olive tree area is now avoided, and that residents fear for their safety.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera’s reporting, carried in the Oz Arab Media piece, says the camp has seen the deaths of three teenagers and numerous injuries since the escalation of violence following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Oz Arab Media also says Amjad Refaee, director of the Askar Social Development Centre, described a shift in the military’s approach from using rubber bullets to aiming directly at individuals, producing severe injuries and fatalities.

In the Al Jazeera account, Nablus is identified as the occupied West Bank setting for the story, and Tel Askar is described as a hilly area in the north of the occupied West Bank that is home to the camp.

Al Jazeera quotes Islam Madani saying, “But most won’t go anymore because soldiers shoot so many people there,” and adds that he is “the 32-year-old father of two.”

The Al Jazeera narrative further states that Tel Askar has become an entrance point used by invading Israeli soldiers as they infiltrate the narrow and dilapidated streets of the camp, often via the illegal settlement of Elon Moreh that looms over the east of Nablus.

The accounts focus on teenagers disabled by Israeli gunfire and the long-term disruption to daily life in Askar.

Oz Arab Media describes Amir Othman, an 18-year-old, who was shot while attempting to rescue a friend, with the bullet shattering his leg and leading to “multiple surgeries and a permanent disability.”

France 24

It adds that Amir said he initially wished for death rather than endure his injuries, while continuing to dream of returning to dancing and playing football, activities now beyond his reach.

Al Jazeera provides a detailed description of Amir’s injury, saying he was shot in the leg last January as a convoy of jeeps drove through Tel Askar, and that “My kneecap and my thighbone were shattered.”

Al Jazeera quotes Amir: “I couldn’t feel my leg anymore, so I thought I had lost it,” and continues with his description that “The blood felt like boiling water spilling out of my leg.”

The Al Jazeera account says soldiers blocked ambulances from reaching Amir as he lay bleeding, and that healthcare officials and international organisations say this has happened “hundreds of times since October 7, when Israel intensified raids on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, particularly refugee camps.”

It further states that Amir eventually underwent four operations to help him walk again, spent four months bed-bound, and that doctors tell him his mobility will never return to normal.

The reporting places the Askar injuries within a broader escalation after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and it connects the camp’s situation to wider patterns of raids and casualties.

“Israeli authorities announced that two Palestinians, deemed responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli youths in June in the West Bank, were shot dead on Tuesday in Hebron by the Israeli army, the same day negotiations resumed in Cairo to strengthen the ceasefire in Gaza”

L'Humanité

Al Jazeera says the military has killed three teenagers there, and “maimed many more since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led an attack on Israel, and Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza.”

It adds that the soldiers no longer fire rubber bullets or aim below the waist, stating, “they shoot to kill, or cause disability,” and it includes Amjad Refaee’s description: “We are animals to them,” along with the claim that “They terrorise us, kill our young people in cold blood, and keep us here in a prison.”

Al Jazeera also says that at least 13 Palestinians have been killed in Askar since Israel’s assault on the occupied West Bank intensified after October 7, according to Palestinian monitoring groups.

The same account states that at least 157 children have been killed by soldiers or Israeli settlers in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem since 2024, citing data compiled by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

It also records Israel’s denial of targeting children, saying Israel denies targeting children, and that its military raids are necessary for security reasons and to clamp down on Palestinian fighters.

Al Jazeera describes Askar as one of the most densely populated of the 19 refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, and it says it is home to 24,000 people packed into an area about the size of 17 football fields.

Separate reporting in the West Bank describes Israeli army operations that killed Palestinians accused of murdering three Israeli teenagers, alongside other clashes in different areas of the West Bank.

L’Humanité says Israeli authorities announced that two Palestinians, “deemed responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli youths in June,” were shot dead on Tuesday in Hebron by the Israeli army, the same day negotiations resumed in Cairo to strengthen the ceasefire in Gaza.

Oz Arab Media

It identifies the two men as Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Eisheh, and it quotes Israeli army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner saying, “We opened fire, they returned fire and were killed in the exchange of fire.”

L’Humanité says soldiers surrounded the home of Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Eisheh before dawn, and that shots then erupted, with Palestinian witnesses saying the army also destroyed the doors of several shops nearby, causing fires.

France 24 reports that a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Qousai Hamamra, was killed Wednesday by Israeli soldiers near Bethlehem, and that another 18-year-old youth was killed during a clash near Ramallah.

France 24 specifies that on Wednesday, April 13, Qousai Hamamra was shot dead with live ammunition in Husan near Bethlehem, and it says the Israeli army fired live rounds after he threw a firebomb at soldiers.

France 24 also says the Palestinian Health Ministry reported the death of Amer Elyan, “hit by a live round in the chest,” fired “by the Israeli army,” during a clash following the arrest of a person in Silwad near Ramallah, leaving six wounded.

The West Bank operation reporting is framed against a wider escalation that includes arrests, a Gaza offensive, and negotiations in Cairo.

“Nablus, occupied West Bank – Islam Madani says families and young people from the Askar refugee camp would once congregate beneath the olive trees on the slopes of Tel Askar, a hilly area in the north of the occupied West Bank which is home to the camp”

Al Jazeera

L’Humanité says the two men were sought because they were suspected of being the killers of the Jewish teenagers abducted and executed near a settlement bloc on June 12, while they were hitchhiking near a cluster of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Al Jazeera

It says their bodies were discovered on June 30, and that Israel accused Hamas of being behind these abductions, arresting about 300 of its members in the West Bank, while the Palestinian movement denied involvement while praising the kidnappings.

L’Humanité adds that in addition to Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Eisheh, at least five Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers during the operation to search for the three Israelis.

It also says that in East Jerusalem, Israeli forces launched a broad arrest campaign, imprisoning 2,000 Palestinians in three months, and that these tensions culminated with the July 8 launch of an Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, the third in six years.

L’Humanité states that the conflict lasted 50 days, leaving nearly 2,200 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis dead, almost all soldiers.

France 24 reports that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had stated on Sunday that he would not “let such an attack on a sacred site pass on the eve of Passover.”