Palestinian teen footballer dies after being shot during settler attack in occupied West Bank

A 17-year-old Palestinian footballer died on Saturday, a week after he was shot during an attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to officials and relatives.

Dozens of mourners dressed in black carried the body of Fadi Hamdallah al-Nassan — a player for Al-Mughayyir Club and a member of the Palestinian national youth team — from the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah to his village for burial.

The Palestine Football Association accused Israeli forces of shooting Nassan while settlers were attacking the village on July 11.

The young player was reportedly shot in the thigh during the attack. His leg was amputated, and he later died from his injuries, the association said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment Saturday.

“He loved football,” his father, Hamdallah Al-Nassan, told AFP.

“When the settlers attacked, he heard the screams of the girls and women,” he said. “He went to the scene of the attack and was killed.”

The teenager’s mother, Hanan al-Nassan, said her son was well-liked in the village.

“He was a good student, good in sports, and loved playing football.
Everyone loved him,” she said.

“May God accept him as a martyr.”

The Palestinian official news agency Wafa also reported that Nassan was wounded and his leg amputated, adding that two other residents were hit by rubber bullets fired by Israeli forces, while a 10-year-old boy was hit on the head by a stun grenade.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the United Nations has reported a sharp increase in violence attributed to Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,088 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data.

Earlier this week, Israel’s security cabinet approved a budget of $434 million for establishing 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said.

UN bodies, Palestinians and most countries view the settlements as illegal under international conventions and a primary obstacle to peace.

Smotrich , who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, is head of the Reli­gious Zionism party that draws much of its support from settlements and is running in the upcoming legislative election on Oct 27.

The planned settlements would bring the total established under his four-year tenure to 103.