Mos’ab Mohammad Nafal

Mos’ab Mohammad Mahmoud Nafal was a young Palestinian man of 18 years, hailing from the village of Al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, situated east of Ramallah in the central West Bank. On November 5, 2022, Mos’ab was working alongside his family in the olive orchards near Sinjil town when a violent incident erupted. According to his family, they were peacefully tending to their trees when a group of illegal Israeli settlers attacked them and other villagers in the area, forcing the Palestinians to flee their lands.

During the chaos, Mos’ab and another young man went missing, prompting a search by family members and local emergency services. Around 6 PM, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) received reports of injuries near the Oyun Al-Hamriyah area and promptly sent ambulances. After searching the olive groves for about two hours, PRCS medics found Mos’ab severely wounded and bleeding from a gunshot. He was immediately transported to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where doctors worked to save his life. Despite their efforts, Mos’ab died from a live bullet wound to his heart.

The Israeli military claimed that Mos’ab and the other injured young man were shot after soldiers opened fire on Palestinians who were allegedly throwing stones at Israeli vehicles. However, Mos’ab’s family disputed this account, emphasizing that he had been with them during the olive harvest and was an innocent civilian caught in an unjust attack.

The incident also involved the injury of another Palestinian man, who was later found by Israeli army medics and transferred to an Israeli hospital. The tragedy of Mos’ab’s death highlights the precarious reality faced by many Palestinians who live under occupation, enduring not only political and military repression but also the violence of settler attacks. His story has since become a somber symbol of the ongoing human cost of the conflict in the occupied West Bank.