Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the killing of a Palestinian woman by ‘Israeli’ security forces in the occupied West Bank and urged for a comprehensive investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In a written statement, the ministry expressed its condolences to the family and relatives of the victim, Ghada Ibrahim Sbatein, killed by Israeli forces near the city of Bethlehem Sunday.
"We strongly condemn the shooting and killing of a Palestinian civilian woman, who poses no threat, by the ‘Israeli’ security forces without warning. We call on the Israeli authorities to investigate the incident in an impartial and comprehensive manner, to bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible and to take the necessary measures to prevent such inhumane incidents from recurring," it said.
Sbatein, a mother of six, was seriously injured after ‘Israeli’ soldiers opened fire in the town of Husan, located west of Bethlehem city in the occupied West Bank. She later succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.
[Israel's] Haaretz newspaper wrote that the woman was unarmed and didn't pose any threat to the soldiers.
‘Israeli’ forces also shot and killed a Palestinian man near the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said early Monday, the latest in growing violence that has erupted during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The ‘Israeli’ military said it opened fire on a man throwing a firebomb at an ‘Israeli’ vehicle driving on a West Bank highway late Sunday. In the last 24 hours, four Palestinians have been killed.
Ramadan this year converges with major Jewish and Christian holidays. Protests and clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan last year boiled over into an 11-day war between ‘Israel’ and Gaza.
Palestinian health officials identified the man killed in the latest shooting late Sunday as 21-year-old Muhammad Ali Ahmed Ghoneim.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Mohammed Zakarna, 17, died on Monday after he was wounded by ‘Israeli’ gunfire in the West Bank city of Jenin a day earlier.
Earlier Sunday, ‘Israeli’ forces shot and killed two Palestinian women. The ‘Israeli’ army said one had stabbed and lightly wounded a police officer in the city of Hebron. The other was an unarmed woman who it said ignored warning shots and calls to stop as she approached a checkpoint near Bethlehem.
Palestinian assailants often carry out attacks at checkpoints in the occupied West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say the ‘Israeli’ military often uses excessive force and in some cases has injured or killed people who were not involved in violence.
The European Union’s diplomatic mission to the Palestinian territories accused ‘Israel’ of using unacceptable excessive force in fatally shooting the unarmed woman. “This incidence must be swiftly investigated and the perpetrators be brought to justice,” it wrote on Twitter.
In a separate incident on Monday, the military said two ‘Israeli’ citizens arrived at a West Bank checkpoint near the city of Nablus with gunshot wounds. ‘Israeli’ public broadcaster Kan reported that the two had attempted to visit Joseph's Tomb, which had been vandalized a day earlier, and were attacked by unidentified assailants.
A day earlier, a group of Palestinians set the tomb ablaze before they were dispersed by Palestinian security forces. The shrine, located on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, is a frequent flashpoint site. Some Jews believe it is the burial place of the biblical Joseph, while Muslims believe it is the tomb of a sheikh. The army escorts Jewish worshipers to the site several times a year, in coordination with Palestinian security forces./DS
