On 23 June 2025, soldiers inside an armored military vehicle shot 'Amar Hamayel in the back after he threw a stone at the vehicle from a hill overlooking the road. A friend who was with him saw him fall and fled the scene. Hamayel was picked up with no signs of life by a Palestinian ambulance that arrived after coordination with the DCO. He was pronounced dead at a hospital in Ramallah.
B'Tselem field researcher Mohammad Romaneh collected the testimonies.
A friend of 'Ammar's said on 25 June 2025:
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'Ammar Mu'taz Hamayel. Photo courtesy of the family
On Monday, 23 June 2025, at 2:15 P.M., my friend 'Ammar called and asked me to meet him at 2:30 in the center of the village. We met and went to his uncle Muhammad Hamayel's café, called a-Liga Café. ‘Ammar started cleaning and preparing the place, and while he worked we talked about the situation in Palestine.
After ‘Ammar finished, he suggested we go for a drink at a place called Misk, west of the village. We walked there, but it was closed. Then he suggested we go to an area overlooking Road 449. We walked there, and when we got to farmland about 150 to 200 meters from the road, 'Ammar pointed out soldiers in black uniforms. I also saw an Israeli police vehicle in blue and white parked nearby.
One of the soldiers put his rifle on the vehicle in a sniper position and aimed it at where we were. We immediately hid on a high hill, so we couldn’t be seen from the street or from the southern end of the road, where the soldiers were. We took turns peeking out at the police car to check if it was still there.
After about 10 minutes, the police car drove toward Tel al-‘Asur, but 'Ammar was still worried. He said he could feel the army was around. Even so, we went a bit closer and stopped about 100-150 meters from Road 449.
Just then, we saw a white vehicle coming up from the Allon Road/'Ein Samiyah road toward Tel al-'Asur. I think it was a settler car, because that road is considered a military road and Palestinians don’t use it. The car was driving strangely, not going straight, but continued toward Tel al-'Asur. I think the settlers in the car noticed us.
We sat there for about 10 minutes after the car went by. Then we saw a military vehicle flying an Israeli flag coming from the east toward the Tel al-‘Asur camp. We know that vehicle and call it "the flag patrol." Everyone in the village knows it’s usually used by the worst, most violent soldiers.
At that moment my father called me, so I quickly went 30 to 40 meters back toward the village and answered. When he asked where I was, I said I was playing soccer with ‘Ammar on the village field. I said that because I was very scared.
While I was talking, I looked at 'Ammar and saw him looking at me. He was still standing where I had left him, closer to the bypass road. I turned for a moment toward the village and suddenly heard two gunshots. I turned back and saw 'Ammar had fallen down. I started running toward the village through the farmland. While I was running, I heard someone shout, "Stop!" but I didn’t look back. I ran away.
As soon as I reached the village houses, I called 'Ammar's phone, but he didn’t answer. From the way he fell and the fact he wasn’t moving or making any sound, I understood he was shot dead. Later, I learned that was what happened and went to the Palestine Medical Center to say goodbye.
'Ahed Samirat, 48, a resident of Silwad and paramedic who took Hamayel to hospital, said on 26 June 2025:
On Tuesday, 24 June 2025, at around 5:30 P.M., young men from the village of Kafr Malik called me and told me there was an injured person being held by the military near the bypass road south of the village.
I drove there from Silwad in an ambulance, together with the paramedic Suheil Hamed and my son, the paramedic Muhammad Smeirat, via the village of Deir Jarir. We arrived at the village's main western entrance, which is near the military base known as Tel al-'Asur. That entrance has been blocked by an iron gate for more than a year. I went there because the young men said the occupation army would hand the injured person over to me there.
We got there within five minutes and saw a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance, but no occupation army forces.
It took us some time to locate the injured person. Eventually, we understood he was near the bypass road connecting Allon Road to the Tel al-'Asur military base. I drove there, even though it’s considered a military road and there are several settler outposts along it, until I reached a dense grove. Four military vehicles and a white military pickup truck were parked there, by the side of the bypass road. I didn’t see any Israeli ambulances or military medical vehicles.
The first military vehicle blocked our way for five minutes. Then a soldier directed me to the last vehicle, where another soldier told me to return to the middle of the road. I drove back, stopped and got out. A soldier immediately approached me, introduced himself in Hebrew, said that the injured boy was dead and asked me to bring a stretcher. He then pointed toward a hill at the northern end of the road, in the direction of Kafr Malik.
The paramedic Suheil, my son Muhammad and I walked there on foot. We walked about 100-150 meters and reached a hill slightly higher than the road. One of the soldiers pointed out the boy's exact location. When we got there, at 6:05 P.M., I saw a boy lying on his back on the ground. He was wearing black pants. He had a slipper on one foot, while the other foot was bare. His chest was exposed and it looked like someone had torn his shirt, but there were no signs of first aid – no bandages, gloves or other medical equipment. There was a soldier there who identified himself as a doctor, but he was not wearing gloves. The boy showed no signs of life.
I saw ants crawling on him and concluded that he had been lying on the ground for a long time.
I examined the boy and found a small hole, which was the bullet's entry wound, slightly above the middle of his back. There was also a large hole, the bullet's exit wound, on the front left side of his neck. When we put the boy on the stretcher, blood began to flow from him, which is an indication of internal bleeding.
We took him to the ambulance and immediately drove to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. Upon our arrival, the doctors officially pronounced the boy dead. After they performed CT scans and X-rays, one of the doctors confirmed to me that the bullet had entered through his back, passed through his heart and exited through his neck. Later, I learned on social media that the boy who had died was 'Ammar Hamayel, 14, from Kafr Malik.
His father, Mu'taz Hamayel, 46, a father of four, said on 25 June 2025:
I work as a government employee in the Palestinian security services and also raise sheep, which provide us with an additional source of income.
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'Ammar Mu'taz Hamayel during a Thai boxing competition. Photo courtesy of the family
My son 'Ammar was a seventh-grade student at Kafr Malik Boys School. He usually had excellent grades and also trained in Thai boxing for about four years.
He represented the Palestinian Thai boxing team three times, won a world bronze medal in 2023, and earned medals and trophies in local championships. He dreamed of becoming an international professional athlete.
On Monday, 23 June 2025, sometime between 12:30 and 1:00 P.M., while I was at work in the government office in Taybeh, ‘Ammar called and said he’d seen the cigarettes I smoke for sale in the village and wanted to buy me a pack, because he’d heard me complain that they were unavailable in the village. I asked him to buy me a pack and leave it at his grandmother’s house in the village center before he went out with friends.
At 2:40 P.M., I finished work and drove back to Kafr Malik. When I got to my mother's house, I saw that 'Ammar had left the pack of cigarettes on her windowsill. I rested for a while and had lunch, and then about an hour later took the sheep out to graze. At the time, I thought that 'Ammar and his friends were playing in the village.
At around 4:40 P.M., a friend of mine called and told me there had been shooting in the southern part of the village near the bypass road, Road 449. I didn’t give it much thought and continued grazing the flock with a friend from the village.
At 5:00 P.M., my wife called and said ‘Ammar had been gone for a long time and she didn’t know where he was. I immediately tried to get hold of him, and after I called again and again, at around 5:30 P.M. someone answered in Hebrew. He said he was an officer named Abu a-Nimr. I asked if ‘Ammar was with him. I assumed he’d been arrested. The officer asked who I was, and I said I was ‘Ammar’s father. He asked for my name and I said, “Mu’taz Mustafa”. He said 'Ammar was lightly injured and hung up.
I asked the friend who was with me to try calling 'Ammar's phone, too. The same person answered and again identified himself as Abu a-Nimr. My friend walked a few meters away from me and continued speaking with the officer. They spoke for about five minutes. The minute my friend walked away to speak with the officer, I felt that 'Ammar was dead.
As soon as he finished the call, I drove to my house, which is in the center of the village, and from there I took my friend's car to the village's blocked main entrance, where there is a road leading to Road 449.
There is a military post at the beginning of the road leading from the main entrance into the village, and the military prevented us from approaching. We stopped the car opposite the soldiers, about 10-15 meters away. I told the soldiers I was the father of the injured boy.
At that point, an Arabic-speaking soldier approached me and asked for my ID card. He then told me that if I wanted to see my son 'Ammar, I had to ask the village youths to move away from the area.
I asked the young men to move away, and then the soldiers allowed me to approach. That soldier escorted me, together with four other soldiers, to Road 449. From where I was standing with the soldiers, I saw an ambulance, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a Palestinian or Israeli ambulance. I told the soldiers I wanted to see my son.
The Arabic-speaking soldier told me the ambulance had taken him to the hospital. I asked the officer where my son 'Ammar was injured. He said he didn’t know and that the hospital would contact me and update me on 'Ammar's condition. He gave me back my ID card and asked me to leave the area.
At that point, I still didn’t know 'Ammar was dead. I drove to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. On the way there, a friend called and told me that 'Ammar had been killed by a bullet that entered through his back and exited through his neck.
The next day, 25 June 2025, we held 'Ammar's funeral and buried him in the village's northern cemetery.
