Mother of nine-year-old Mohammad killed by Israeli soldiers shares her grief and loss

Aliyah Abdel Majid al-Halaq, a 33-year-old mother from the village of ar-Rihiya near Hebron, recounts the tragic death of her nine-year-old son, Mohammad, who was killed by Israeli soldiers on October 16, 2025. This heartbreaking incident is part of a growing toll, as 54 families in the occupied West Bank have lost children to violence in 2025 alone.

Life Under Occupation

Living under occupation, Aliyah always understood the pervasive violence and fear that defined her family's existence. Despite her efforts to shield her children from these harsh realities, the tragic event that took her son shattered her fragile belief in safety. She reflects, "I understood then that occupation does not only take land, freedom or dignity. It takes away something even more fundamental: a parent’s certainty that her child will come home."

Before the tragedy, Aliyah and her husband, Bahjat, struggled to provide for their family. Bahjat worked at a supermarket far from home, earning meager wages, while Aliyah sold homemade sweets to help feed their five children. Their lives revolved around survival, with little room for joy.

The Day of Mohammad's Death

On that fateful day, Mohammad had just come home from school, filled with joy over a new backpack from Unicef. He asked to play football with friends at a nearby playground, and Aliyah agreed. Tragically, this would be the last time she would see him alive. After a call indicating something was wrong, Aliyah's worst fears were confirmed when she saw a WhatsApp video of her son being carried away, bloodied and lifeless.

Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers had entered their village and began firing tear gas near the playground. As children fled, Mohammad stood still, arms folded, when he was shot in the pelvis. Eyewitness accounts revealed that even after he was wounded, soldiers continued to fire, hindering attempts to assist him.

Reflections on Grief and Accountability

Aliyah has grappled with her son’s senseless death and the lack of accountability for Israeli soldiers. "Not a single soldier has been indicted over the killing of my son after he went to play soccer," she states. This incident is part of a broader pattern, as more than 21,500 Palestinian children and teenagers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with 248 minors killed in the occupied West Bank during the same period.

Now, Aliyah's life is consumed by grief and struggle. Her husband lost his job and battles trauma, while she lives in a constant reminder of her son, surrounded by his photograph and backpack. She concludes, "There was a soldier who pulled the trigger and killed Mohammad. But there is also a system that protects those responsible, conceals reality and almost never holds anyone accountable."