In a heartbreaking ceremony on Thursday, a Palestinian-American teenager was laid to rest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His death, just one day prior, is attributed to a shooting by an Israeli settler, as confirmed by an eyewitness and Palestinian health officials.
Mourners gathered in significant numbers, forming a solemn funeral procession that carried the body of 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siyam through his home village of Mukhmas, nestled in the hills north of Jerusalem.
Abu Siyam’s untimely demise tragically highlights the disturbing increase in violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers across the West Bank.
Over recent years, a wave of extremist settlers has grown increasingly daring, engaging in acts of terror against Palestinian villagers. These actions include arson attacks on homes, destruction of olive groves, theft of valuable livestock, and even fatal or injurious assaults. Such relentless aggression has fueled a profound sense of insecurity and fear among Palestinians residing near settler communities.
According to a village resident who witnessed the event, Abu Siyam was fatally shot on Wednesday. He was reportedly trying to stop a group of settlers from stealing livestock at the outskirts of Mukhmas when the incident occurred.
Atta Kanaan, 54, a resident, recounted the horrifying sequence of events: settlers began throwing rocks at villagers, who retaliated in kind. Kanaan stated that Abu Siyam was first hit by a rock thrown by a settler, and then immediately after, he was shot by a settler.
The Palestinian Health Ministry later confirmed that Abu Siyam tragically died from his injuries on Thursday, explicitly stating he was hit by a ‘bullet of settlers’.
During the time of the shooting, Israeli soldiers were reportedly in the vicinity, deploying tear gas and sound grenades. However, it remains uncertain if the soldiers were directly at the scene where the shooting took place.
On Friday, the Israeli military issued a statement confirming that troops were sent to Mukhmas after receiving a ‘report of a violent confrontation involving rock hurling.’ Their account noted that ‘suspects in the area’ had fired live ammunition at Palestinians, though it did not identify these suspects as settlers.
The military concluded its statement by saying the incident is currently under review.
The U.N. humanitarian affairs office in Jerusalem reported a staggering 1,828 settler attacks against Palestinians and their property in 2025, marking the highest annual count since 2006.
Mohammed Abu Siyam, Nasrallah’s father, shared that his son, though born in the U.S., had resided primarily in the West Bank. He spoke of Nasrallah’s recent contributions, helping him care for livestock and cultivate olive trees.
Expressing profound grief, the father lamented, “My heart is on fire. I’m broken. He helped me with everything.”
When questioned about the incident, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a statement condemning “this violence,” while noting that privacy regulations prevented them from disclosing further details at that time.
The embassy further emphasized the U.S. State Department’s unwavering commitment to the safety and security of American citizens worldwide.
This incident echoes a similar tragedy in July, when Palestinian authorities and the victim’s family reported that Israeli settlers had beaten and killed another Palestinian-American man during a clash in the West Bank town of Sinjil.
Approximately three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, a system that often denies them basic guarantees of justice. In stark contrast, around 500,000 settlers in the same territory enjoy the full rights of Israeli citizens.
Both Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations accuse the Israeli government of largely ignoring settler violence against Palestinians. These groups assert that Israeli security forces, when intervening in clashes, often fail to detain settler attackers and sometimes only arrest Palestinians. Consequently, very few Israeli perpetrators are ever indicted or convicted for these acts.
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