Hala Salem Darwish was setting out wedding dishes when a bullet struck her inside her home in Gaza's Maghazi refugee camp. She, 18, and 13-year-old Mohammad Saber al-Sheikh in the occupied West Bank are both in critical condition after separate shootings, medical staff and family members said.

What happened

An 18-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy are both hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in separate incidents across the occupied Palestinian territory, medical staff and family members said.

Hala Salem Darwish, 18, was wounded while inside her home in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, relatives said. She had been preparing a family meal and finalizing arrangements for a wedding set for May 1 when she was hit by a shot from a position east of the camp, according to a relative and local reports. Hala is on life support at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah.

In the occupied West Bank, 13-year-old Mohammad Saber al-Sheikh was struck during a raid in the Jalazone refugee camp on April 9, his father said. The boy was playing football near his home when Israeli forces entered the camp amid heavy gunfire. Mohammad was taken to Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah, where doctors said he remains in the neurology intensive care unit under continuous sedation as they try to manage swelling and pressure on his brain.

Voices from families and doctors

Mohammad Abu Jabr, a journalist and a relative of Hala’s fiancé, described the sudden loss of the couple’s wedding plans. "She had everything ready for the henna, the wedding, and all the traditions you know," Abu Jabr said. "But the bullet killed this dream." The family said Hala was the youngest daughter and had been preparing wedding traditions when she was wounded.

Saber al-Sheikh, Mohammad’s father, spoke about his son’s personality and the family’s hopes. "Mohammad is a hardworking boy," he said. "He loves playing football … The doctors didn't fall short." The hospital’s medical staff have kept him sedated to control brain pressure, the family and clinicians said.

Dr. Abdel Wahab Kharousha, a physician at Istishari Arab Hospital, described the severity of the boy’s injuries without giving graphic detail. He told reporters that the wound was extensive and that surgeons were treating severe trauma to the head. Hospital staff said Mohammad remains under intensive care as they work to stabilize him.

Wider pattern of violence

Doctors, family members and local officials said the two shootings reflect a pattern of deadly encounters affecting Palestinian minors in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Separate incidents in the same week included the killing of 16-year-old Mohammad Majdi al-Jabari in Hebron, who was struck by a vehicle in the security convoy of an Israeli minister. Local accounts say the vehicle belonged to a company providing protection for Settlements Minister Orit Strock. Authorities also reported at least four other Palestinians killed in the West Bank on that same day, including two boys aged 14 and 16.

Those numbers sit against a broader toll the region has seen since October 2023. Local tallies put the total Palestinian fatalities at more than 72,000 during that period, with almost 40,000 listed as women and children.

The funerals, hospital admissions and arrests have strained medical staff and families across camps and towns, sources said.

Humanitarian strain and local services

Hospitals in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank are under intense pressure from high numbers of wounded civilians, medical staff said. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and Istishari Arab Hospital have taken in multiple critical cases in recent weeks, stretching intensive care capacity.

Why this matters

These two cases come amid a larger pattern of civilian casualties since October 2023: local tallies cited in this report put Palestinian fatalities at more than 72,000, including nearly 40,000 women and children. The scale of the toll has put sustained pressure on hospitals and families across Gaza and the West Bank.

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Hala's wedding was scheduled for May 1; Mohammad remains sedated in a Ramallah ICU as doctors treat severe head trauma. Saber al-Sheikh, Mohammad’s father, said: "Mohammad is a hardworking boy. He loves playing football … The doctors didn't fall short."