Palestinian media reported that a Palestinian teen was shot dead near the town of Teqoa in the southern West Bank on Tuesday.
He was identified in reports as Muheeb Ahmed Jibril, 16.
The incident came a day after an incident in the same Palestinian town in which another teenager, 16-year-old Ammar Taamra, was shot dead by the Israel Defense Forces during a clash with troops. The military said Taamra was “a main instigator” of a riot in Teqoa, which is east of Bethlehem.
Footage published by Palestinian media, captured from afar near a highway, appeared to show Jibril and four other Palestinians on Tuesday running away from the road in different directions when a black van pulls up.
One of the people running away, identified in Palestinian media as Jibril, falls and does not get up, as the van drives away.
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Another person, who had ducked for cover behind the highway guardrail when the van showed up, rushes to him.
Palestinian media and Teqoa’s mayor said a settler killed Jibril. It was unclear if the van was a military or civilian vehicle. The published video was silent, so gunfire could not be heard.
????فيديو| لحظة إصابة الشهيد مهيب أحمد جبريل برصاص مستوطن عند مدخل بلدة تقوع جنوب شرقي بيت لحم pic.twitter.com/A7bkH5iKEh
— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) December 16, 2025
The IDF did not immediately respond to The Times of Israel’s request for comment, including as to whether it received reports of an incident in the area and whether the vehicle in the video was there in a military capacity.
Subsequent footage showed Jibril’s body being carried on a stretcher through a large crowd in Teqoa. In the footage, the crowd can be heard chanting, “There is no god but Allah.”
فيديو التُقط أثناء الإعلان عن استشهاد الفتى مهيب أحمد جبريل (16 عامًا) في بلدة تقوع شرق بيت لحم. pic.twitter.com/ytudWOFeVv
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) December 16, 2025
Teqoa Mayor Mohammed al-Badan told Reuters by telephone that Jibril was killed following Taamra’s funeral.
The army on Tuesday said the incident the previous day, in which Taamra was killed, took place during an operation in Teqoa, when “a riot erupted which included stone-throwing toward the force.”
“The troops used riot dispersal means and then opened fire on a main instigator,” the military says, adding that “a hit was identified.”
The IDF said that the incident is under further investigation.
Following Taamra’s funeral on Tuesday, said al-Badan, “a number of youths were gathered by the main street when a settler shot 16-year-old Muheeb Jibril in the head.”
الشهيد الثاني خلال 24 ساعة في بيت لحم: استشهاد الطفل مهيب جبريل برصاص مستوطن https://t.co/8T50c4MvmG
— Shabab FM راديو شباب اف ام (@ShababFM1014) December 16, 2025
Settler attacks against Palestinians have been escalating in recent months, prompting security agencies to increase efforts to combat the attacks. Prosecutions of Jewish extremists are rare, however, and convictions are even rarer. Critics have accused the right-wing government of shrugging off the attacks.
As of early November, the IDF had recorded over 750 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence since the start of the year. The total for 2024 was 675 incidents.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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