Palestinian teen footballer dies after shot during settler attack: officials, relatives

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

He was named as Fadi Hamdallah al-Nassan, a player for Al-Mughayyir Club and a member of the Palestinian national youth team.

What happened to the Palestinian teen footballer?

Al-Nassan was shot in the thigh on July 11 during a settler attack on his village, and his leg was later amputated, according to the Palestine Football Association. He died from his injuries a week later. The Palestine Football Association accused Israeli forces of shooting him while settlers attacked the village.

How did the footballer's family describe the attack?

Dozens of mourners dressed in black carried al-Nassan's body from the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah to his village for burial. His father, Hamdallah Al-Nassan, told AFP that his son loved football. "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 Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on Saturday. The Palestinian official news agency Wafa also reported details of the incident, adding that two other residents were hit by rubber bullets fired by Israeli forces. A 10-year-old boy was also hit on the head by a stun grenade during the attack, Wafa reported.

How many Palestinians have been killed by settlers or soldiers since the Gaza war began?

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, including both militants and civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data. Official Israeli figures show that at least 46 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank over the same period.