Israeli forces shoot and kill a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in Burqa in the West Bank — the two sides give different accounts of the shooting
A 14-year-old Palestinian boy, Moataz Iyad Daghlas, was shot and killed by Israeli forces overnight on the outskirts of Burqa, a village near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, and two other teenagers were wounded, Palestinian officials said. The Palestinian Health Ministry named the boy and said Israeli authorities were withholding his body. The Israeli military confirmed the shooting and said its soldiers opened fire at a group it described as terrorists who intended to throw stones at a highway used by Israeli drivers. WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, described those fired on as a group of teenagers and said ambulance crews were kept from reaching the wounded. What happened in the moments before the shooting is disputed, and no footage or independent witness account has settled it.
Checking in progress
This story is still being checked. Claims below are published as claims — never dressed as facts — and each one moves only when the evidence earns it.
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Key points
- Moataz Iyad Daghlas, 14, was killed overnight near Burqa; the Health Ministry says his body is being withheld.
- The Israeli military confirms the shooting and says soldiers fired to stop stone-throwing at vehicles on a nearby highway.
- WAFA describes those fired on as teenagers and reports two more wounded — a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old.
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- No footage or independent witness account in the reporting read settles what happened just before the shooting.
What happened
Burqa is a village northwest of Nablus in the northern West Bank. The shooting comes amid a surge in violence in the territory that the United Nations has described as reaching an unprecedented level since October 2023.
The two accounts differ at the central point: Palestinian officials describe a raid in which teenagers were fired on and an ambulance was kept back, while the military describes a preventive shooting at a group it says was about to stone traffic.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · Palestinian officials — the Health Ministry and WAFA
- The Health Ministry named the boy killed as Moataz Iyad Daghlas, 14, and said Israeli authorities were withholding his body.
- WAFA reported two other teenagers wounded: a 17-year-old shot in the abdomen and pelvis and a 19-year-old hit in the hand.
- WAFA said soldiers detained the boy's father, stopped an ambulance from reaching the wounded, and briefly held three Palestine Red Crescent volunteer paramedics working in the area.
Side B · The Israeli military
- The military confirmed the shooting in Burqa and said soldiers opened fire to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.
- In its words: "The forces responded with gunfire to neutralise the threat and several hits were confirmed."
- The military said the group was at a spot where cars had been stoned before; it has not said what the soldiers saw that indicated an imminent stone attack, or whether any stones were thrown before they opened fire.
Independently verified
3 claims independently verified — listed in the claim-by-claim check below.Not yet verified
2 claims not yet verified — listed in the claim-by-claim check below.What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That the boy was killed in a shooting the Israeli military confirms, his name and age from the Health Ministry, and each side's stated account.
What we don't know yet
- Whether stones were thrown, or were about to be thrown, before the soldiers fired — no footage or independent witness account has settled it.
- Whether an ambulance was stopped and paramedics held, as WAFA reports — not independently confirmed.
- The condition of the two wounded teenagers, and when the boy's body will be returned.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (5)
Why this label: The death, the name and the withholding of the body are the Health Ministry's account, reported by Al Jazeera and by The Times of Israel; the Israeli military confirmed a shooting in Burqa in its own statement. The circumstances of the shooting are disputed and are carried separately below.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: This is the military's own statement, carried by Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel. It is verified that the military said this; whether the group was about to throw stones is the military's account, not an established finding.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The wounded teenagers and their injuries rest on WAFA's reporting, carried by Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel; no second independent source for the injuries was read, so they are carried as WAFA's report, not as settled.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: These details come only from WAFA in the reporting read and have not been independently confirmed; the military has not addressed them in the statement carried.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The figure is the UN's count as reported by Al Jazeera, and is carried as the UN's figure.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
A 14-year-old is dead, his body is being held, and the only two accounts of why soldiers opened fire come from the two sides to the conflict. Until independent evidence appears, what can honestly be said is what each side claims — which is how this story carries it.
Background
At least 1,143 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations — among them 250 children.
Israeli forces shoot Moataz Iyad Daghlas, 14, on the outskirts of Burqa near Nablus; the military confirms the shooting the next day.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published in Checking state — the death and each side's account are confirmed by the statements themselves, and the moments before the shooting remain disputed.