Israeli Raid on West Bank City Leaves Seven Palestinians Dead, Including 15-Year-Old Girl
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A 15-year-old Palestinian girl succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday after being shot during an Israeli raid, raising the death toll from the attack in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin earlier this week to seven.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Sadeel Ghassan Naghniyeh Turkman was shot in the head by Israeli forces on Monday.
The ministry has confirmed the deaths of Ahmed Youssef Saqr, 15, Khaled Azzam Darwish, 21, Qassam Faisal Abu Sariya, 29, Qais Majdi Jabareen, 21, Ahmed Daraghmeh, 19, and Amjad al-Jas, 48, in addition to Turkman.
An Israeli security source, speaking anonymously to the regime's Army Radio, claimed that the chances of Israeli forces hitting the girl were "low." The Israeli regime military is expected to investigate the death, although previous probes of similar incidents have not resulted in significant action being taken.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military concluded an investigation into the unintentional killing of two-year-old Muhammad Tamimi, after mistaking him and his father for armed individuals firing towards an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. The army stated that it would reprimand the soldier for firing his weapon into the air in violation of orders, and pledged to continue learning and improving.
Last week, another Israeli investigation into the death of 80-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad absolved soldiers of any wrongdoing. Assad was stopped at a West Bank checkpoint in January last year, forcibly removed from his car, his hands bound, blindfolded, and left on the ground overnight. He suffered a heart attack, which his family and the Palestinian Ministry of Health attributed to the abusive treatment.
The investigation concluded that Israeli soldiers thought Assad was asleep when he was slumped on the floor, and did not check to see if he was alive until the following morning.
A report by Israeli rights group Yesh Din revealed that less than one percent of soldiers accused of harming Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip are ever charged with crimes. The report stated that Israel demonstrates a complete disregard for Palestinian lives and promotes the continued use of a deadly trigger-happy policy that has claimed numerous Palestinian lives.
This year alone, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 163 Palestinians, including 27 children. Of these, 129 fatalities occurred in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with an additional 34 in the Gaza Strip.