Palestinian authorities reported on Monday that Israeli forces are in possession of the bodies of two Palestinian teenagers who were killed near a West Bank settlement. The fatalities occurred in an area north of Hebron, according to the Ramallah-based General Authority of Civil Affairs, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the deceased as Reda Sami Awad, 15, and Arafat Ismail Awad, 19.

The Israeli military confirmed the shooting, stating that soldiers opened fire late Sunday on a group of individuals burning tires and throwing petrol bombs toward the nearby settlement. The military described the event as part of a "counter-terrorism operation," during which two individuals were killed and a third was “neutralized.”

The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 and is home to over 500,000 Israeli settlers, not including those in East Jerusalem, among roughly three million Palestinians. The United Nations has recently highlighted a surge in attacks by settlers against Palestinians, reporting an average of six such incidents daily that result in casualties or property damage.

Tensions in the West Bank have risen significantly since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, which began after a large-scale assault by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas against Israel. Since then, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,082 Palestinians, including both militants and civilians, according to figures compiled from the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, official Israeli data indicate that at least 46 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have died in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.