Israeli forces kill 14-year-old Palestinian in West Bank raid as violence flares

Fatal shooting in Askar camp

Fourteen-year-old Palestinian Islam Ahmad Maher Ajouri died on Sunday, 23 August 2026, after being shot by Israeli forces in the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that Ajouri was killed by live fire during an operation in the northern West Bank, where he resided. Emergency medical workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the teenager suffered a penetrating live bullet wound to the chest. He was subsequently transported to the Nablus National Hospital, where medical staff confirmed his death. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA identified the victim as Islam Ahmed Ajuri, while Israeli military officials told AFP they were reviewing the reports regarding the raid.

Mohammed Abou Kashk, the president of the Askar camp services committee, told AFP that Israeli forces conducted incursions into eastern Nablus covering both the old and new refugee camps:

There were neither clashes nor confrontations justifying shooting a child and killing him.

Military curfew and manhunt in Al-Auja

In the central West Bank, Israeli security forces initiated an extensive manhunt and security operation following a stabbing incident in the village of Al-Auja, located north of Jericho. Israeli police reported that a 24-year-old Israeli civilian parked his vehicle near a local shopping centre when an unidentified assailant attacked him from behind and stabbed him in the shoulder. First responders from Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency medical service, treated the civilian for a penetrating shoulder wound before transferring him in moderate condition to a hospital in Jerusalem. The attacker fled the scene, prompting joint Israeli military and police units to cordon off roads, question suspects, and conduct searches across the surrounding Al-Auja and Jericho areas.

Hani Najoum, the president of the Al-Auja village council, described the immediate impact of the security operation on residents during a telephone interview with AFP:

The Israeli army invaded the village, deployed in its streets and imposed a curfew.

Additional confrontations across the West Bank

The fatal shooting of Ajouri in Askar camp follows the killing of a 17-year-old Palestinian by Israeli forces on Saturday, 22 August. In a separate incident on Sunday, Israeli forces shot and wounded an unidentified Palestinian man near the town of Taybeh and the Israeli settlement of Rimonim, situated in the Ramallah governorate. The soldier involved in the shooting belonged to the Israeli military Kfir brigade. An official statement issued by the Israeli military, which was also reported by the Palestinian news agency Sanad, stated that the soldier fired in self-defense after the Palestinian man attempted to snatch his assault rifle during an encounter.

Casualty figures since October 2023

The weekend incidents occurred within a wider context of heightened violence in the West Bank, a territory under Israeli military occupation since 1967, following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. An AFP count based on figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health indicates that Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023. Over the same period, official Israeli records show that at least 48 Israelis have died in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli armed operations in the territory. Israeli forces continue regular military operations across northern and central West Bank districts.