Palestinian boy, 14, among two killed in settler attack near West Bank school

Two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old schoolboy, have been killed in the occupied West Bank after Israeli settlers opened fire near a school amid mounting assaults on education in the territory, witnesses and local officials have said.

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. The head of the local council told Reuters that Israeli settlers had entered the village and opened fire near a school – first at students, and later at others who arrived at the scene. Witnesses said settlers were later followed by Israeli soldiers.

Footage seen by the Guardian shows a settler in military fatigues, whom activists identified as someone known for previous attacks on the village, carrying a rifle as he advances slowly towards al-Mughayyir before crouching and firing at least eight rounds in the direction of the school.

Videos filmed outside the school show blood splattered across the street as gunshots ring out. Men and boys, young and old, are seen running frantically and calling for help, while injured children and adults – including one man with an exposed, bloodied torso – are carried away.

A video obtained by CNN shows the moment Aws, who was in ninth grade, was shot and killed. His friends can be seen rushing to him and carrying his body away.

The second Palestinian killed, Abu Naim, was a parent at the school who lived nearby. He rushed there after hearing gunfire and was shot, the headteacher, Abu-Assaf, said.

A witness, Kathem al-Haj Ahmed, 57, told Reuters the settlers arrived first, attacking the village school. Palestinians in the West Bank are frequently subjected to unprovoked attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers.

“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,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces said troops were sent to al-Mughayyir – a village residents say faces near-daily settler attacks – 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”. The IDF said soldiers later intervened to break up what it called a violent clash.

A military source told the Guardian that a reservist had been suspended from reserve duty pending the conclusion of a criminal investigation by military police, with his weapon being confiscated.

The shooting in al-Mughayyir, which is about 15.5 miles (25km) north-east of Ramallah, is the latest in what human rights groups have described as a surge in violence against Palestinians being waged by Israeli settlers and soldiers.

In a separate incident on Monday, activists said settlers used a bulldozer to demolish a school in Hammamat al-Maleh, near Tayasir in the north of the Jordan valley.

Elsewhere, community leaders said settlers from the Karmiel settlement placed razor wire near Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron hills, blocking the route used by children to reach school. Khaleel Alhathaleen, the head of Umm al-Khair’s village council, said the closure obstructed students’ movement and disrupted their education.

After more than 40 days of school closures during the US-Israel war on Iran, children in Umm al-Khair returned last week to find settlers had fenced off their path to school. When they tried to pass, residents said soldiers fired teargas and stun grenades, making many children too frightened to return.

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 Palestinian health ministry says 1,152 Palestinians, including 239 children, have been killed in the West Bank since 7 October 2023, and more than 11,800 injured.

Israel has not prosecuted any Israeli citizen for killing Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since the start of this decade, a Guardian analysis of legal data and public records has shown.

On Tuesday, at least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, including four near Khan Younis, local media reported.