HEBRON, West Bank: A 27-year-old Palestinian nurse has been left permanently paralyzed after being shot by Israeli settlers near his future home outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association.
Mohammed Nabil Al-Mutawwar, an intensive care nurse at Dura Governmental Hospital, was shot in the back after armed settlers from a nearby outpost opened fire in the Al-Udeisa area of Sa’ir, northeast of Hebron, where he had been preparing a home ahead of his marriage.
The bullet caused a severe spinal cord injury that resulted in permanent paralysis, the association said in a statement on Friday.
Al-Mutawwar is being treated at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron and requires specialized neurological treatment, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Speaking from hospital, Al-Mutawwar told WAFA that despite his injuries, he remained determined to live in the home he had been working to complete before his marriage.
He was one of two Palestinians wounded when armed settlers attacked homes in Al-Udeisa and opened fire on residents on Friday, the Palestinian Red Cresent said.
Another injured young woman was injured in the head, according to the Red Crescent.
Abdullah Abu Khaled, a member of the Sa’ir municipal council, said the gunmen came from a nearby Israeli settler outpost newly established on Palestinian land east of Hebron, WAFA reported.
The Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association said the attack on Al-Mutawwar “was not an isolated or passing incident” and linked it to a broader violence against Palestinians and healthcare personnel.
It said it had contacted international nursing bodies, including the International Council of Nurses, and called on humanitarian organizations to document attacks on Palestinian healthcare workers and pursue accountability.
The association also drew parallels with attacks on Palestinian medical personnel in Gaza, where it said hundreds of nurses and other healthcare workers had been killed or injured while carrying out their duties during the war.
The shooting comes amid a sharp rise in settler violence across the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian officials have reported 1,476 attacks by Israeli settlers in 2026. A total of 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this year, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry.
In a separate incident on Friday, Israeli forces detained Palestinian Hamada Kawamleh after he was run over by a settler while working on his land in Jabal Al-Qarn near Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, WAFA reported.
