Police reportedly launch probe of settler killing of Palestinian-American teen

Police have reportedly launched an investigation into the lethal shooting and subsequent beating of a Palestinian-American teen during a settler attack in the West Bank last week.

Nasrallah Abu Siam, a 19-year-old who resided in Mukhmas, a Palestinian town in the central West Bank, was shot when dozens of masked, armed settlers attacked residents’ barns and stole their livestock, while accompanied by IDF troops, according to witnesses.

The military began probing the incident but denies its troops were involved in the killing. Today, the IDF passed the case to the West Bank District police, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Though the case is now in the police’s hands, they are said to still be pushing for the IDF Military Police’s involvement in the investigation, but the army has resisted this.

Police do not respond to a request for comment regarding the number of suspects in the case at this stage.

תיעוד: פלסטינים זורקים אבנים לפני הירי אתמול בשטחי מרעה ליד רמאללה שממנו נהרג נסראללה אבו סיאם, תושב הכפר מוחמאס. בצה״ל עורכים תחקיר של מפקד החטיבה ומפקד אוגדת איו״ש לגבי זהות היורה – חייל הגנה מרחבית או מתנחל@HGoldich pic.twitter.com/Ryxz7iLmE2

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 19, 2026

While incidents of settler violence have been taking place on a near-daily basis across the West Bank, arrests are highly rare, while indictments and convictions are even more so.

On Wednesday last week, settlers stole hundreds of sheep from pens in Mukhmas, then herded them up a hill as some Palestinians followed them, according to Kan. Clashes broke out as both sides hurled rocks at each other from afar.

At this point, at least one settler opened fire on the Palestinians below, wounding several, including Abu Siam. While lying wounded and unconscious on the ground, settlers approached the 19-year-old and began beating him with clubs for several minutes, an eyewitness told Haaretz.

“The army was there at this point, watching and doing nothing,” the witness said to the outlet. “The soldiers stood and smoked as if nothing was happening. It was terrible.”

Abu Siam and two others were rushed to a hospital in Ramallah. The Palestinian Authority announced his death the next day, after he succumbed to his wounds.

According to Kan, it was still unclear if the settler who fired the shot was part of one of the IDF’s so-called area defense forces, known by the Hebrew acronym Hagmar. Dozens of soldiers from such units, which comprise local settlers in reserve duty, have been dismissed for violations, including attacks on Palestinians, the military said last month.