On 23 April 2025, a force of soldiers on foot raided the village of al-Yamon. The soldiers entered a home, and a group of 10 to 12 children and teenagers, including 12-year-old Mahmoud Abu al-Hija, gathered in a nearby cemetery and began throwing stones at the balcony of the home from about 50 meters away. An eyewitness told B'Tselem that one of the soldiers fired several shots at them. One of the shots hit Abu al-Hija and he collapsed. Video footage shows the gunfire at the children and teens at the cemetery continuing as they carry Abu al-Hija out. He was then taken by private car to the village medical center, where he was pronounced dead. Soon after he was evacuated, a military jeep drove up, and the soldiers got in and left.
Mahmoud’s mother Nazmiyah Abu al-Hija, 52, a mother of four, said in a testimony she gave B'Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 26 March 2026:
On the morning of 23 April 2025, my son Mahmoud set out from our home, which is in central al-Yamun near the old mosque, to Bilal Intermediate School, where he was a seventh-grade student. At noon he came home and said he’d already eaten with friends. After prayers, he went out to play with friends in the area.
Around 4:00 P.M., I was shocked when his friends showed up and told me Mahmoud was shot by Israeli forces that had raided our village. A few moments later, I learned he was shot in the stomach and thigh and taken to a hospital in Jenin, where he was pronounced dead.
Mahmoud was our eldest. He was energetic and loved life. He loved playing and especially loved swimming. He would ask us to take him to the local swimming pools. He also cared for pets, including a newborn kitten, which he looked after devotedly. Mahmoud loved horses and used to go on paid rides with his friends. He wanted an electric scooter to get around, but we couldn’t afford it.
Whenever he saw I was exhausted, he would come and hug me and take care of me. He was very attached to me and came with me on social visits to family in Jenin. He was my firstborn, who arrived after 13 years of marriage during which I struggled to have a child. His birth brought immense joy to the entire family.
He left behind his brother Ibrahim, 10, who is now our only son, and his sisters Tala, 11, and Nur, 6. Since Mahmoud was killed, they’ve been mourning and missing him terribly. Ibrahim is still a child, but he tries to fill the void by acting like an adult. My daughters constantly ask about Mahmoud and miss him very much.
Mahmoud al-Hija, 12