Two Palestinians killed in West Bank village by Israeli settlers, say witnesses

CAIRO/RAMALLAH – Two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 21 after Israeli settlers and soldiers opened fire, witnesses said, while in Gaza, health officials said two Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said two Palestinians were killed and four others were wounded by Israeli settler gunfire in al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the two killed were aged 14 and 32.

The head of the local council, Mr Amin Abu Ulaya, told Reuters that settlers and soldiers had entered the village and opened fire. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

“This led to the killing of a student and another person,” said Mr Abu Ulaya, describing scenes of panic in the village as parents raced to the school in search of their children.

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

Al-Mughayyir resident Kathem Al-Haj-Ahmed, 57, said the settlers arrived first, attacking a village school. Palestinians in the West Bank are frequently subjected to unprovoked attacks perpetrated by Israeli Jewish settlers.

“This is our reality in al-Mughayyir village; they aim to displace us, and both the army and the settlers are exchanging roles among them,” he told Reuters.

Some Israeli officials have condemned “Jewish rioters” in the West Bank while also saying that a fringe minority was behind the violence. Other officials have backed the settlers and called for expanding the settlements.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are deemed illegal by the UN and most countries.

Palestinians hope the West Bank will be part of a future independent state.

The expansion of West Bank settlements has surged under the current right-wing Israeli government, with about 700,000 Jewish settlers now living there, among around 2.7 million Palestinians.

Two Palestinians killed in Gaza

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, health officials said on April 21 that Israeli forces killed at least two Palestinians.

Medics said a woman in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya area was killed by gunfire from an Israeli naval boat. The Israeli military said it was not aware of the incident.

In another incident, a man was killed in an Israeli air strike on the eastern side of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the military had struck “terrorists” in the Khan Younis area and that more information would be released later. Three other Palestinians were also killed in the Khan Younis area overnight.

On April 21, mourners arrived at hospitals in Gaza City and Khan Younis to pay their respects to those killed overnight, whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds. Women wept, and men performed prayers before the burials.

The deaths were the latest bout of violence overshadowing a US-brokered ceasefire deal signed in October 2025 after two years of full-blown war between Israel and the militant Islamist group Hamas. Progress has stalled on parts of the deal, which include the disarmament of Hamas and an Israeli army pullout.

The ceasefire left Israeli troops in control of more than half of Gaza. Hamas controls a narrow coastal strip.

More than 750 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire deal took effect, according to local medics, while Israel says militants have killed four of its soldiers. Israel and Hamas have traded blame for ceasefire violations.

Israel says it aims to thwart attacks by Hamas and other militant factions. REUTERS