AL-MUGHAYYIR, OCCUPIED WEST BANK – A boy's blood still stained the sidewalk in front of his school, days after an Israeli settler shot him dead. Aws al-Nasaan, 14, was gunned down in broad daylight last week in the small Palestinian village of Al-Mughayyir, in the occupied West Bank.

His death comes amid a dramatic escalation in settler violence, alongside a push to expand Israel's control over the West Bank through new laws, settlement expansions, and security crackdowns limiting Palestinians' freedom. According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli settlers and forces have killed at least 42 Palestinians so far this year.

The attack, caught on video from multiple angles, took place just after noon on April 21. The footage shows a bearded man in an Israeli military uniform firing down the hill toward the school. Eyewitnesses describe the frantic scene, with students attempting to escape as bullets struck the building's walls.

“They ran out of the gates trying to escape,” said the school’s principal Bassem Abu Assaf. “The shooting was crazy, just crazy, nonstop shooting.” Another casualty of the attack was Jihad Abu Naim, a construction worker, who was also shot dead.

Palestinian eyewitnesses claim that Israeli soldiers arrived quickly after the shooting but did nothing to stop the shooter. Instead, according to eyewitnesses, they dispersed tear gas into the crowd of students and villagers outside.

In response to the incident, the Israeli military confirmed the shooter was a reservist and stated that an investigation has been initiated, assigning suspension from duty.

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has documented nearly 400 incidents of violence by settlers in recent weeks, highlighting the alarming increase in aggression against Palestinians. The rise in violence is attributed in part to an international focus diverted away from the situation in the West Bank.

Despite calls for accountability, human rights groups assert that there is almost full impunity for aggression against Palestinians, an observation confirmed by monitoring data collected by various organizations.

As mourners gathered for Al-Nasaan’s funeral, the Israeli military clashed with the crowd, using tear gas to disperse attendees, further exacerbating the tragedy of the young victim’s death.