Two Palestinian teenagers were killed on September 2, 2026, in a raid by Israeli settlers and army forces in al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank [1, 2, 3, 4]. The victims were identified as Omar Mohammed Na’ssan and Khalil Abu Alia; their ages are disputed—some sources say one was 16 and the other 19, while others state both were 19 years old [1, 2, 3, 4].
The raid involved Israeli military forces entering the village accompanied by settlers who reportedly stole sheep from local homes [1, 3, 4]. Amin Abu Alia, head of the al-Mughayyir village council, said Israeli forces entered near the Grand Mosque, attacked two homes, and stole sheep. When residents confronted the settlers, Israeli snipers positioned on rooftops opened live fire, critically wounding the two young men, who later died in hospital [3, 2, 4].
The Israeli military stated its forces entered "to provide security for police officers and an Israeli civilian seeking to retrieve livestock." The military said troops fired on and struck "key instigators of a violent disturbance in which people threw stones at the forces" and that the incident is under investigation [1].
The attack is part of a larger rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank during 2026, including repeated attacks on al-Mughayyir’s access road and other nearby villages [1, 2, 3, 4]. An August 20 attack wounded 11 Palestinians on al-Mughayyir’s road [2]. Earlier in August, settlers laid siege to a home in Qusra village, sparking international condemnation [1, 2].
Since early 2026, 79 Palestinians—including 19 children—have been killed in the West Bank by settlers or Israeli forces, with 1,870 wounded, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [2]. Al-Mughayyir and surrounding areas have faced repeated settler attacks, including livestock theft and assaults on mosques [2, 3, 4].
The next development will be the ongoing Israeli military investigation of the September 2 raid and the violence that led to the deaths of the two teenagers.
