Israeli security forces killed a young Palestinian woman early Monday after shooting at a vehicle in the West Bank town of Beitunia, near Ramallah, Palestinian officials said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a message on its Facebook account that the victim is Sana al Tal, who was «shot in the head», before accusing «Israeli occupation soldiers who carried out an incursion in Beitunia».
Sources quoted by the Palestinian news agency WAFA said that the soldiers opened fire on the vehicle «for no apparent reason», killing al Tal and wounding another occupant of the car who has been detained by the army.
An Israeli army spokesman said that the soldiers saw a suspicious vehicle and added that, despite an order to stop, it accelerated towards them, causing them to open fire, as reported by the Israeli daily ‘Haaretz’.
Israeli forces have killed more than 200 Palestinians so far this year, including 144 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem – including 50 in the Jenin area – more than 50 in the Gaza Strip and four in Israel, according to WAFA.
Tensions have increased in recent months in the West Bank following the latest attacks on Israelis, which have left nearly 20 dead. In addition, Israeli security forces have arrested nearly 2,000 suspects in numerous raids in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Separately, an Israeli soldier has shot dead an Israeli man he mistook for a Palestinian terrorist at a bus stop in the West Bank. The man «suspiciously» approached the soldier, who opened fire, also wounding a pedestrian who was in the area.
The Israel Police have stressed that there is no suspicion that the deceased was a terrorist and added that he probably needed «a professional diagnosis», pointing to possible psychological problems that could have caused him to act «suspiciously». According to the daily ‘Yedioth Ahronoth’, the man was carrying a knife.
