Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian family of four, including two children, while they were driving through the occupied West Bank on Sunday. According to Palestinian health authorities, Ali Khaled Bani Odeh (37), his wife Waad (35), and their sons Mohammad (5) and Othman (7) were each shot in the head in the village of Tammun.
Key Takeaways
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian family of four, including two children, during an arrest operation in the West Bank. The military claims the vehicle accelerated toward soldiers, while survivors allege brutality. Regional violence continues to escalate.
- Israeli forces kill Palestinian family of four during West Bank operation
- Military alleges vehicle posed immediate threat; survivors report beatings and slurs
- Three women killed in Iranian missile strike on West Bank hair salon
- Violence escalates across region with rising death tolls
The Israeli military stated that its forces were conducting an operation to arrest Palestinians wanted for involvement in 'terrorist' activity against security forces. During this operation, a vehicle accelerated toward the forces, who perceived an immediate threat and responded with gunfire. As a result, four Palestinians inside the vehicle were killed.
Khaled Bani Odeh (12), one of two surviving children, recounted to Reuters that he heard his mother crying and his father praying before shots sprayed the car. He reported that soldiers pulled him out of the vehicle, beat him, and shouted: 'We killed dogs.'
The Palestinian Health Ministry also reported that another Palestinian was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers overnight. Since February 28, settlers have killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the ministry.
Violence has continued to escalate across the region. In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed four Palestinians, including two 17-year-olds, in two separate attacks on Friday, according to Palestinian medics. The Israeli military told Reuters it was not aware of one of the airstrikes reported in Gaza.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians on Thursday, while the death toll in Lebanon reached 773, its Health Ministry said on Friday. After nearly two weeks of war, 2,000 people have been killed across the region, most of them in Iran.
Separately, three Palestinian women were killed and a fourth seriously wounded in an Iranian missile attack on a hair salon in Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. This marks the first deadly Iranian strike in the West Bank since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
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