Ramallah, May 19, 2025 — Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian boys, Nidal Wael Abdulkareem Shagnoubi, 16, and Mohammad Nidal Majed Abu Lebdeh, 17, in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, before withholding both of their bodies from their families, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine.
At around 8:30 p.m. on May 17, Israeli soldiers concealed themselves behind a tree, less than 50 meters from the road, near the main entrance of Burqa village, in Nablus, before suddenly opening fire on a group of Palestinian youth. Nidal was struck and fell to the ground. Two other children accompanying him were also injured, one in the arm and another in the side, but they managed to flee the scene. Soldiers dragged Nadil to the roadside without providing first aid, according to eyewitnesses.
When a Palestinian ambulance approached to provide medical assistance, Israeli forces fired warning shots and blocked its access to Nidal. Nidal’s father, who attempted to reach his son, was also blocked by soldiers, who informed him that he was not allowed to see or learn the fate of his child. Around 9 p.m., the Palestinian Coordination Office informed the family that Nidal had died.
“Israeli forces are routinely engaging in premeditated violence against Palestinian children with no fear of accountability,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “This was not a confrontation. This was an execution of a child by an occupying army that acts as though Palestinian life holds no value.”
A day earlier, on May 16, in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces shot and killed Mohammad Nidal Majed Abu Lebdeh, 17, near Bab al-Silsila, one of the gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli forces opened fire on Mohammad and left him to bleed without medical attention until he died. Israeli forces assaulted civilians who were present in the area, prevented anyone from approaching Mohammad, and closed the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Following the killing, Israeli forces stormed Mohammad’s family home in Beit Hanina, assaulted civilians in the area, and arrested several of the boy’s family members.
Israeli officials claimed the shooting was in response to a suspected stabbing attempt of a policeman.
Nidal and Mohammad’s bodies were confiscated by Israeli forces and remain withheld, bringing the total number of Palestinian children’s bodies withheld by Israeli authorities since June 2016 to 44. Israel’s practice of withholding Palestinian bodies is a form of collective punishment, a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, and deprives Palestinian families of the ability to lay their children to rest.
Israeli forces have killed 27 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israel’s routine use of lethal force against Palestinian children reflects a wider policy of violence and impunity that violates international law. Under international human rights law, lethal force may only be used when strictly unavoidable to protect life, yet, Israeli forces continue to target children with deliberate, unlawful killings. Nidal and Mohammad’s killings are part of a broader pattern where Palestinian children are treated as expendable, denied protection, and denied justice.
