The Israeli army responds to stones thrown by Palestinian teenagers with live ammunition in the West Bank

SadaNews - After returning from his high school in Nablus, on a day in April, Yusuf Ashtiyeh left his bag at the entrance of his home and followed his friends. Shortly afterward, he was struck by a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier in his back, rendering him a martyr.

This incident is not isolated. Since Israel launched a wide military operation in January 2025 against militants active in the northern West Bank, its forces have been killing an average of one Palestinian minor every week, according to UNICEF.

According to a report issued on May 12, 70 minors aged between 15 and 16 have been martyred since the operation began, 65 of them by Israeli forces, according to the "Agence France-Presse".

On May 13, Yusuf Ka'abneh (16 years old) was martyred near the village of Jaljulia, north of Ramallah in the central West Bank. Two days later, Fahd Oweis (15 years old) was martyred in the village of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, belonging to the Nablus Governorate.

According to the Israeli army, Ka'abneh and Oweis were "throwing stones at its soldiers".

It is unclear whether Ashtiyeh, on April 23, also threw stones. His father, Samah Ashtiyeh (48 years old), says, "I wasn't there, I don't know".

Ashtiyeh, a building contractor, lives in a quiet residential neighborhood overlooking a main road leading to Nablus, the same road used by Israeli army vehicles when they withdrew from the city that day.

Injuries with "intent to kill"

On that day, Yusuf (15 years old) was with his friends at a junction of a side street when they were spotted by a couple passing by in their vehicle as they "threw stones" before noticing military vehicles on the street.

One of the vehicles stopped, followed by another.

The driver, who preferred to remain anonymous, told "Agence France-Presse": "A soldier got out, then two more followed, and they started shooting at the children".

A woman nearby documented what happened next on video, in which the sound of two gunshots and screams can be heard, showing the teenager grasping the handle of the couple's car.

The driver recounts: "He said to me: Please do not leave me, I am scared. Take me back to my father, take me home".

Quickly, the boy stopped responding while in the back seat of the car as they were on their way to the hospital.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Yusuf Ashtiyeh's heart had stopped.

The surgeon who oversaw his treatment told "Agence France-Presse": "It was a gunshot wound, the bullet entered from the back and exited from the chest".

The doctors managed to revive him and transfer him to the operating room, but his heart stopped again, this time permanently.

Dr. Baha' Fattouh says: "Previously, we used to see light injuries in the legs or arms, or injuries from rubber bullets that could be treated".

He clarified that since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023: "We no longer see anything but fatal injuries, to the chest or head", injuries "with intent to kill", according to the doctor.

Fattouh adds that most of the injured "die on the operating table".

"Yusuf is not here"

After the incident, in response to inquiries from "Agence France-Presse", the Israeli army said: "A terrorist threw stones at the soldiers, and the soldiers responded with the usual arrest procedures that ended with shooting towards the suspect".

After the "Agence France-Presse" team returned from Nablus and requested the army respond to the testimonies it collected, the same response was given.

Recently, the leftist Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" quoted the West Bank military commander, Brigadier General Avi Blot, as saying that his forces killed 42 Palestinians in 2025 for throwing stones.

He described stone-throwing as "terrorism".

At the location where his son was martyred, Samah stands examining the descending road.

He wonders: "What can a stone do to a military patrol, what effect can it have on a trained soldier?".

He adds: "They claim they were attacked with stones by the boys, I don’t want to justify, but in Israel, in France, demonstrators throw stones, trash, and shoes at the government".

The maximum that demonstrators in those countries may face is signing a pledge not to do so again, and they return home, according to Ashtiyeh.

Yusuf was buried in the village of Till, south-west of Nablus, from which he hails.

Weeks after his martyrdom, his grave is still covered with flowers and topped with a picture of Yusuf chasing a football on a playground.

His father says he promised him to take him to Saudi Arabia to attend a match for player Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yusuf no longer waits for his father every time he returns home. The grieving father looks at the back seat of his car and says with pain and sorrow, "Yusuf is not here".