Aliyah Abdel Majid al-Halaq, a 33-year-old mother from the village of ar-Rihiya near Hebron, lost her nine-year-old son Mohammad on 16 October 2025, when Israeli soldiers shot him while he was playing football. Mohammad was one of 54 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank killed by Israel in 2025, according to B'Tselem's report Unshielded Childhood.
A Mother's Grief Under Occupation
Aliyah, mother of five, described the daily struggle of living under occupation. Her husband Bahjat worked far from home at a supermarket earning a few dozen shekels a day. She sold homemade sweets to support the family. Despite poverty, she tried to shield her children from the harsh realities. On the day of the killing, Mohammad returned from school overjoyed with a new backpack from Unicef and asked to play football at the school playground. It was the last time she saw him alive.
The Shooting and Its Aftermath
Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli soldiers entered the village and fired teargas near the playground. Mohammad and his friends fled. He stopped about 100 metres away with his arms folded, and a soldier shot him in the pelvis. Even after he was wounded and bleeding heavily, soldiers continued firing, preventing rescue attempts. Aliyah learned of the shooting through a WhatsApp video showing Mohammad being carried, his blue school uniform soaked in blood. He died during surgery.
Accountability and the System
Aliyah questions how such killings continue without accountability. No soldier has been indicted for Mohammad's death. She states: "There is a system that protects those responsible, conceals reality and almost never holds anyone accountable. And there is a world that remains silent." Since October 2023, over 21,500 Palestinian children and teenagers have been killed in Gaza, and 248 in the West Bank, according to her account.
Life After Loss
Her husband lost his job and struggles with trauma. Aliyah lives between her son's grave, his photograph, and his new backpack still hanging on the wall. She hides her tears from her children, trying to protect them from the fear and loss she now carries. She writes to ensure Mohammad is remembered not as a statistic but as a boy who loved football, catching birds, and dreamed of becoming a doctor.
