Two Palestinians were shot dead on Tuesday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, after witnesses said Israeli settlers and soldiers fired on residents. Palestinian medics reported that two others were wounded in the incident.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the gunfire from settlers killed two Palestinians and wounded four more in al-Mughayyir. The Palestinian health ministry identified the dead as a 14-year-old boy and a 32-year-old man.
Amin Abu Ulaya, head of the local council, told Reuters that both settlers and soldiers entered the village and opened fire. "This led to the killing of a student and another person," he said, describing panic as parents rushed to the village school to find their children.
Kathem Al-Haj-Ahmed, 57, a resident of al-Mughayyir, said settlers arrived first and attacked a village school. He said Palestinians in the West Bank regularly face unprovoked attacks by Israeli Jewish 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 added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reported incident.
The shooting in al-Mughayyir, roughly 25 kilometres (16 miles) north of Ramallah, forms part of what human rights organizations have described as a recent surge in violence affecting Palestinians in the West Bank. Some Israeli officials have publicly condemned what they called "Jewish rioters," while other officials have expressed support for settler communities and called for further expansion of settlements.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the United Nations and most countries. Palestinians continue to regard the West Bank as part of a future independent state. Under the current right-wing Israeli government, settlement expansion has accelerated, and there are now some 700,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank alongside about 2.7 million Palestinians, officials and observers say.
Separately, health officials in the Gaza Strip reported at least two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces on Tuesday. Medical teams 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 that incident.
In the south, a man was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the eastern side of Khan Younis. An Israeli military spokesperson said the forces had struck "terrorists" in the Khan Younis area and that further details would be provided later. Medics also reported three additional deaths in the Khan Younis area overnight.
Mourners gathered at hospitals in Gaza City and Khan Younis to say farewell to those killed overnight. Bodies wrapped in white shrouds were brought into hospital courtyards where women wept and men performed prayers before burials.
The recent fatalities add to a pattern of violence that has strained a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement signed last October following two years of full-scale war between Israel and the militant group Hamas. Progress has stalled on key parts of the deal, including the disarmament of Hamas and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from areas of Gaza.
The ceasefire left Israeli troops in control of more than half of Gaza, while Hamas maintains authority over a narrow coastal strip. According to local medics, more than 750 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says militants have killed four of its soldiers during the same period. Both sides have accused the other of violating the ceasefire. Israel says its operations are intended to prevent attacks by Hamas and other militant factions.