On Monday, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near the Karmei Tzur settlement in the occupied West Bank, while a separate airstrike in Gaza City killed a high school student travelling to her final exams. Palestinian medical officials said the West Bank victims, aged 15 and 19, were left bleeding at the scene and their bodies seized by troops, who prevented Red Crescent teams from reaching them. In Gaza, an Israeli drone strike on a civilian vehicle killed 18-year-old Raghad Ashour and wounded several others, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli military offered a different account of both incidents. It stated that soldiers opened fire on a group burning tyres and hurling petrol bombs towards the settlement, killing two and wounding a third. Regarding the Gaza strike, the military said it targeted a member of Hamas’s military wing in a vehicle and expressed regret for any harm to an uninvolved person, adding that it takes all possible measures to minimise civilian casualties. Palestinian officials and witnesses, however, described the West Bank victims as civilians and said the Gaza student was simply on her way to an examination centre, with no indication of militant activity.

The killings form part of a broader escalation. In the West Bank, Palestinian health data and UN figures show that since October 2023, over 1,080 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, with settler violence reaching record levels. The UN has warned of an average of six settler attacks daily causing casualties or damage. In Gaza, despite a ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, the Palestinian health ministry reports 1,028 fatalities and 3,249 injuries from ongoing Israeli military operations, with the cumulative death toll since the war began surpassing 73,000. Ceasefire violations, including airstrikes and machine-gun fire, are recorded almost daily, while the Israeli blockade continues to cripple humanitarian access.

The ceasefire, brokered after months of war, remains fragile with no new diplomatic framework in sight. The Palestinian Authority’s education ministry is conducting secondary school exams for some 89,000 students, including 37,000 in Gaza who must rely on electronic tests due to destroyed infrastructure. Viewed from major capitals, the settlements are illegal under international law and a primary obstacle to Palestinian statehood, a position Israel rejects, considering the territory disputed. No new negotiations have been announced, and the cycle of military raids, settler attacks, and armed responses shows no sign of abating.