Palestinian teen killed by IDF in clashes near Ramallah; IDF says he had ‘flaming object’
PA names victim as 15-year-old Yamen Hamed of Silwad; settlers attack several towns, torch vehicles, while video shows settlers killing sheep in farm by Hebron earlier in the week
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A 15-year-old Palestinian was shot dead in clashes with troops during a military raid near Ramallah in the West Bank on Friday, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.
The shooting took place in the village of Silwad, according to the PA, which later identified the victim as Yamen Samid Yusuf Hamed, a resident of Silwad.
According to the PA’s official Wafa news site, Israeli troops used live ammunition, tear gas and sound grenades during the clashes.
Wafa cited unnamed local sources who said that the Israel Defense Forces held up an ambulance trying to reach Hamed for critical minutes as the teen bled out. The boy was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
In response to a query, the IDF said that during an operation in Silwad, “a terrorist was identified with a suspicious flaming object that was suspected to be an explosive device.”
A 15-year-old Palestinian boy, Yamen Samed Hamed, has died after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank town of Silwad, east of Ramallah.
According to witnesses cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli forces prevented medics from reaching him,… pic.twitter.com/lpT75tZbb7
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 31, 2025
“After identification, the soldiers responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist,” the army added.
Hours later, hundreds of mourners gathered in Silwad for Hamed’s funeral, carrying his body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, through the crowded streets.
Some waved Palestinian flags, while others clutched those representing Hamas and Fatah. Inside, women sobbed over the teenager’s body, stroking and kissing his face.
Yousef Hamed, the boy’s father, said his son had been joyful in his final moments.
“Right before, he was at home with us, happy and playing,” he told AFP. “He said goodbye to everyone, then he left, but did not come back.”
Settlers attack multiple villages, torch vehicles
Elsewhere in the West Bank on Friday, Israeli settlers attacked the village of Beit Lid east of Tulkarem, hurling stones at passing vehicles outside the town and setting fire to a tractor and another vehicle, according to Palestinian media.
مستوطنون يحرقون جرارًا زراعيًا خلال هجوم أطراف قرية بيت ليد شرق طولكرم pic.twitter.com/29Bz4wGAUi
— palgraph (@palestine_graph) October 31, 2025
The Maan news site said Israeli troops arrived on the scene but did not arrest any of the settlers, instead clashing with Palestinians who sought to protect their village from the attack.
The incident came amid a surge in violence in the West Bank, particularly settler violence, which has been taking place on a near-daily basis with little to no law enforcement.
Hours later, Palestinian media reported another settler attack, this time in the village of Deir Dibwan east of Ramallah.
???? مشاهد توثّق اعتداءات عصابات المستوطنين على بلدة دير دبوان شمال شرق رام الله، حيث هاجموا الأهالي والمركبات واقتحموا أحد مساجد البلدة وعبثوا فيه pic.twitter.com/fqVykqqrAl
— ساحات – عاجل ???????? (@Sa7atPlBreaking) October 31, 2025
Two vehicles were torched in the alleged attack, footage showed.
Palestinian media said that masked settlers raided the town, hurling stones at residents and storming a mosque.
There were no reports of any arrests.
مستوطنون إسرائيليون اقتحموا بلدة دير دبوان شرق رام الله خلال صلاة الجمعة، أحرقوا مركبتين واعتدوا على مسجد بتحطيم نوافذه الخارجية، فيما تصدى لهم الأهالي واندلعت مواجهات ما زالت مستمرة.
لمتابعة التفاصيل على موقعنا: https://t.co/pRl0TiCExE#غزة #وقف_الحرب #الضفة_الغربية pic.twitter.com/KmQnUurX5o
— وكالة قدس برس (@qudspressagency) October 31, 2025
Also on Friday, The Times of Israel published new footage of a settler attack earlier in the week on a Palestinian hamlet in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank, with the clip showing the slaughter of sheep belonging to one of the residents.
The livestock belonged to Mahmoud Drameen, who identified the masked men as local settlers in a complaint filed to Israel Police on Wednesday. The complaint included graphic security camera footage documenting the attack, which also caught the masked men smashing the windows of his car.
Drameen said a total of 10 sheep were killed or seriously injured, and some had their eyes gouged out.
No suspects have been arrested to date.
While livestock have been targeted in such attacks before, the gruesome nature of the footage points to an apparent escalation in settler violence, which has continued unabated in recent months.
Some recent attacks have even featured ATVs that far-right ministers of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have boasted of providing to settlers in illegal outposts that have mushroomed across the West Bank over the last two years.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, nearly 1,000 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023.
The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks. According to the military, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
During the same period, 62 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
The Times of Israel Community.