Israeli forces, settlers kill two Palestinian teens in West Bank raid

September 3, 2026 at 01:59 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Israeli forces and settlers killed two 19-year-old Palestinians during a raid on al-Mughayyir in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. The killings occurred as residents confronted settlers, with soldiers opening fire and critically wounding two young men who later died. The raid is the latest in a surge of settler violence that has killed at least 79 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of 2026.

Key Facts

The Palestinian Wafa news agency identified the victims as Mohammad Na’ssan and Khalil Abu Aliya, both 19 years old.
Since the beginning of 2026, at least 79 Palestinians, including 19 children, have been killed in the occupied West Bank by settlers or Israeli forces, according to OCHA.
At least 1,870 Palestinians have been wounded in the West Bank since the start of 2026, according to OCHA.
On August 20, 11 Palestinians were wounded in a settler attack on al-Mughayyir’s only access road.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces fired tear gas into a mosque in Madama, and settlers tried to set fire to another mosque in Bazariya.

The Raid

The killings occurred during a raid on al-Mughayyir on Wednesday, a village that has been the site of repeated attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and Israeli forces in recent months. As residents tried to confront the settlers, Israeli soldiers opened fire on the residents, critically wounding two young men, who later died from their wounds. Sources from the village told Al Jazeera that snipers had taken positions on rooftops in the village ahead of the killings.

Escalating Violence

Settler attacks in al-Mughayyer have largely focused on the village’s only access road, where vehicles have regularly been targeted, according to OCHA. In a recent incident on August 20, 11 Palestinians were wounded in an attack. On Tuesday, Israeli forces fired tear gas into a mosque in Madama, leaving those gathered coughing for air, according to footage verified by Al Jazeera. Hours earlier, Israeli settlers tried to set fire to another mosque in the nearby town of Bazariya.

International Response

Last month, a three-week settler siege of a Palestinian home in Qusra, south of Nablus, prompted a rare rebuke from United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel and its West Bank settlements. The European Union has been weighing a ban on settler-made goods. In late August, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, Dr Ramiz Alakbarov, said that settler attacks have continued with “virtually no accountability”. Experts, including UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, have increasingly said the attacks fit the definition of pogroms, or organised and often state-backed attacks on a targeted minority.