Fadi Hamdallah al-Nassan, a 17-year-old Palestinian who played for his country’s national youth football team, died on Saturday, July 18, 2026, from a gunshot wound sustained a week earlier during an attack by Israeli settlers in his village in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) reported that Israeli forces shot al-Nassan in the thigh while settlers were attacking the village. His death has drawn renewed attention to the escalating violence by Israeli settlers and soldiers against Palestinian communities across the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967 where settlement expansion continues despite international law prohibitions.

In a statement on X, the PFA said, “With Fadi’s departure, the number of martyrs from the Palestinian sports movement since October 7, 2023, rises to 1,013 martyrs, including 568 martyrs from the Palestinian football family.”

Separately, on the same day, Israeli settlers and forces reportedly set fire to Palestinian property in two separate incidents in the West Bank, destroying olive trees near Ramallah and a family home near Nablus, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The incident comes amid broader regional tensions, with thousands rallying in London in support of Gaza and calls for political action, as well as reports of Israeli attacks on residential areas in Gaza resulting in casualties.

Sources