Palestinian youth footballer dies after West Bank settler attack
Fadi Hamdallah al-Nassan, 17, died a week after he was shot during an attack on his village, Palestinian officials and relatives said.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
A 17-year-old Palestinian footballer has died from wounds sustained during an Israeli settler attack on his village in the occupied West Bank, according to officials, relatives, Al Jazeera and AFP. The death of Fadi Hamdallah al-Nassan has put renewed focus on violence facing Palestinian communities in the territory.
Al-Nassan, who played for Al-Mughayyir Club and was part of the Palestinian national youth team, was shot on July 11 and died on Saturday, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. His funeral was held in al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, after mourners carried his body from the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, according to the reports.
The Palestine Football Association said in a statement on X that Israeli forces shot al-Nassan in the thigh while settlers were attacking al-Mughayyir. The association said his leg was later amputated and that he died from his injuries.
The PFA said al-Nassan’s death raised the number of people from the Palestinian sports community killed since Oct. 7, 2023, to 1,013, including 568 from the Palestinian football community. Those figures were provided by the association and could not be independently verified from the information available.
Al-Nassan’s father, Hamdallah al-Nassan, told Al Jazeera and AFP that his son ran toward the attack after hearing women and girls screaming. “He went to the scene of the attack and was killed,” his father said.
His mother, Hanan al-Nassan, described him to Al Jazeera and AFP as a strong student and athlete who loved football. She said he was well liked in his community.
Further attacks reported in the West Bank
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli settlers and forces carried out separate attacks on Saturday that damaged Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank. Wafa said olive trees near Ramallah and a family home near Nablus were destroyed.
In Deir Qaddis, west of Ramallah, Wafa reported that Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinian farmers working on their land. The agency said fires then spread through olive groves and that civil defence crews were blocked from reaching the area.
Near Nablus, Wafa said settlers burned a Palestinian family’s home in the town of Tal, destroying it. The agency also reported that Israeli forces searched homes in Yabad and Mithlon, near Jenin.
Al Jazeera and AFP reported that Palestinian communities across the West Bank have faced frequent raids and attacks by Israeli forces and settlers since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and settlement construction there has expanded despite being illegal under international law, according to the reports.
Rights groups and the United Nations have described Israeli policies in the West Bank as a system of apartheid, Al Jazeera reported. Israel rejects such characterisations, but no Israeli response to the specific incidents reported Saturday was included in the available accounts.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.