RAMALLAH, September 3, 2026 (WAFA) — The Ministry of Education and Higher Education condemned the crime committed by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, which resulted in the killing of 16-year-old Khalil Rassem Abu Alia, a 10th-grade student in Al-Mughayyir, and 19-year-old Omar Al-Naasan, a first-year student at Birzeit University who was preparing to return to university at the end of this month.
In a statement issued today, Thursday, the ministry said the latest criminal assault exposes the scale of organized terror perpetrated by settler gangs against the Palestinian people under the protection of the occupation army.
It stressed that such crimes constitute a blatant violation of the fundamental right to life and security and represent a direct assault on the future of Palestine and its younger generations, who continue to be targeted by the occupation and settlers through killing and intimidation.
The ministry said the crime comes amid a systematic and ongoing escalation of attacks against Palestinians, as well as schools, universities, students and education personnel, demonstrating that targeting Palestinian education and its students is part of a broader system aimed at undermining Palestinian existence and denying Palestinians their rights to life, freedom and education.
The ministry renewed its call on all international human rights and humanitarian institutions to document and halt such crimes, hold those responsible to account, and put an end to the terror perpetrated by settlers and the occupation army.
The ministry mourned Abu Alia and Al-Naasan and extended its deepest condolences to their families and relatives and to the residents of Al-Mughayyir, stressing that protecting Palestinian children and youth and safeguarding their right to life and education will remain at the heart of its national and humanitarian responsibilities.
The Education Ministry affirmed that targeting Palestinian children and youth will not break the Palestinian people's resolve, deprive their children of their right to life and education, or succeed in uprooting them from their land or destroying their future.
K.T
