Israeli forces conduct raid in Qalandya Members of Israeli forces take part in an Israeli raid in Qalandya, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Dec. 23, 2025. (Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)
The Israeli military on Tuesday said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of a teenage boy by its soldiers in the occupied West Bank over the weekend.
Surveillance footage circulating on social media appears to show the boy approaching two Israeli soldiers at an intersection in the town of Qabatiya, in the northern West Bank.
In the video, one of the soldiers, who is kneeling, stands up and opens fire, after which the teenager is seen collapsing.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it conducted an operation in the Qabatiya area, south of Jenin.
At the time, it said that "a terrorist hurled a block toward the soldiers, who responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist."
However, the footage does not show the 16-year-old throwing anything at the soldiers. He was later identified by the Palestinian health ministry as Rayan Mohammed Abu Muala.
Asked by AFP on Tuesday about the footage, an army spokesman said the incident was under review.
"We saw that. The incident is under investigation," he said.
Mohammed Abu Muala, the boy's father, told AFP that his son had intended to go to a shop nearby but turned back after noticing military vehicles in the area.
"Thinking the military had left, he stepped outside but was shocked to see soldiers still on the ground, who then opened fire on him," Abu Muala said.
"My son wasn't carrying anything and didn't do anything," he said. "Had he known there were soldiers there, he wouldn't have stepped onto the road.
"He was just 16 and was killed for no reason. They could have arrested him, there was no reason to shoot," Abu Muala said.
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 triggered the Gaza war.
It has not subsided despite the truce between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,027 Palestinians, many of them militants but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have also been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
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