Palestinian teens killed during settler attack on West Bank village, officials say

Funerals have taken place for two Palestinian teenagers who local authorities say were killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in an attack on their village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Key points

• B'Tselem notes Khirbet al-Tabban is the 66th Palestinian community to be expelled by Israeli authorities since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
• In the 1980s, the Israeli military declared regarding 3, 000 hectares in the South Hebron Hills.
• On Thursday, Israel's police force remarked a 19-year-old settler had been arrested on suspicion of participating in an attack on the Palestinian village of Qusra on Saturday.
• In a separate development on Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished the Palestinian village of Khirbet al-Tabban, in the Masafer Yatta area.
• It described the demolition as the most significant in Masafer Yatta since May 2025.

Meanwhile, the village council in al-Mughayyir informed the BBC that Omar al-Nassan, 19, and Khalil Abu Alia, 16, were killed as they tried to stop Israeli settlers stealing sheep and that confrontations broke out.

According to The Israeli military, its forces had entered the village to provide security for an Israeli civilian and police trying to retrieve livestock.

It remarked they fired on and struck what it called "key instigators" of a "violent disturbance", in which Palestinians threw stones at its troops.

In practice, the deaths come against the backdrop of a recent surge in settler violence in the West Bank, with more than three attacks per day on average recorded by the UN so far this year. Al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, has seen repeated settler attacks.

At least 81 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the year, according to the UN's figures. At least 23 of those deaths have occurred in the context of settler attacks.

Three Israelis, both security forces and civilians, have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank over the same period, the UN notes.

Notably, the Israeli military has faced mounting criticism for actively participating in settler attacks on Palestinians, standing by, or failing to prosecute those responsible.

On Thursday, Israel's police force remarked a 19-year-old settler had been arrested on suspicion of participating in an attack on the Palestinian village of Qusra on Saturday. It marks the first such arrest in weeks of attacks on Qusra.

Dozens of masked settlers descended on the village, surrounding a house while Palestinians were trapped inside, and throwing stones.

Israeli soldiers who were deployed to the scene reportedly detained the trapped Palestinians but not the settlers, allowing them to leave. The Israeli military remarked troops removed "rioters" and protected residents.

Israel has built regarding 160 settlements housing 700, 000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a future state – during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. The settlements are illegal under international law.

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem remarked the village's 70 residents, including 28 children, were given no warning prior to the demolition and were not allowed to remove their property.

In the 1980s, the Israeli military declared regarding 3, 000 hectares in the South Hebron Hills. It includes Masafer Yatta, as a restricted firing zone for training purposes. The military notes the Palestinian homes there have been built illegally.

In 2022, Israel's Supreme Court ruled to allow the demolition of homes in the firing zone and the expulsion of their residents. This person had argued that such a move violated international law and that their families had been living there since before the State of Israel was established.

B'Tselem notes Khirbet al-Tabban is the 66th Palestinian community to be expelled by Israeli authorities since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. It it alleges is part of a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" being carried out in the West Bank.

Taken together, the developments around palestinian teens killed during settler attack on West Bank village, officials say point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.