Israel Kills Palestinian Teen, Illegal Settlers Burn Mosque in West Bank
Palestinian authorities reported that Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in the occupied West Bank on Friday (May 15, 2026). This incident occurred amid a surge in violence, including arson attacks on religious sites by Israeli settler groups.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim as Fahd Zidan Oweis. According to official statements, Oweis was shot dead at dawn in the town of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiyya, in the Nablus governorate. Palestinian authorities stated that the teenager’s body is currently being held by the Israeli military.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military provided a different account. They claimed to AFP that during a counter-terrorism operation in the area, forces “eliminated a masked terrorist” who was throwing stones at Israeli vehicles on a main road and was considered a threat to life.
In addition to the shooting incident, tensions also flared in the village of Jibiya, north of Ramallah. Palestinians reported that a group of Israeli settlers burned a room inside a mosque and torched two cars parked in its courtyard shortly after midnight.
Eyewitnesses said that Hebrew graffiti was found on the outside wall of the mosque. Ibrahim Zibar, a mosque caretaker, said that residents saw smoke coming from the mosque’s windows and immediately tried to put out the fire. “It seems they were trying to burn the entire mosque,” he said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs strongly condemned the act, calling it a “cowardly terrorist act that reflects an extremist mindset with no respect for religion or international law.”
The increase in settler violence in the West Bank has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community. Although the Israeli military (IDF) stated that it condemns attacks on religious institutions and promised to conduct an investigation, similar attacks often occur without clear legal consequences for the perpetrators.
Violence in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, has increased dramatically since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Currently, about three million Palestinians live alongside Israeli settlers in an increasingly fragile security situation. (AFP/I-2)