Young Palestinian girl killed when Israeli police fire at suspected attackers in West Bank unrest

Posted 5:45AM on Sunday 7th January 2024 ( 4 months ago )

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Sunday opened fire at a pair of suspected attackers who rammed their car into a West Bank checkpoint, fatally shooting a young Palestinian girl in an adjacent vehicle, according to police and medical officials.

The two suspects were also shot, while a young police officer was lightly hurt. The Sunday evening incident came hours after nine people were killed in other unrest in the occupied territory, which has experienced a surge of violence since Israel's war against Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.

Israeli police said the ramming took place at a checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Biddu, just northwest of Jerusalem.

Security camera footage showed a white car plowing into a pair of Israeli police at the checkpoint. Police then chase after the vehicle, opening fire.

Police said a man and woman inside the car were shot, but a girl in a van in front of them was shot as well. The girl, who was reported to be 3 or 4 years old, was pronounced dead by Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.

Police said a preliminary investigation found that “during the rapid response of the officers toward the terrorists' vehicle, the vehicle with the child may have been affected.” They promised a “thorough investigation.”

The conditions of the suspected attackers was not immediately known, but the rescue service said a female officer in the paramilitary border police was lightly wounded.

Earlier on Sunday, a man driving a car with Israeli license plates was fatally shot at a busy intersection in the West Bank, hours after a violent confrontation elsewhere left seven Palestinians and a border policewoman dead.

The victim in the drive-by shooting was later identified as a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem. The assailants presumably mistook him for an Israeli because of the license plates. Palestinian militants have carried out scores of shooting attacks against Israelis in the West Bank over the years, and the military described Sunday's shooting as such an incident.

The Israeli army said security forces were searching the area for the shooter. Israeli media reported that security forces found an abandoned car that was likely used to carry out the attack, and the suspect fled on foot.

Hours earlier, a deadly confrontation erupted when Israeli security forces were on patrol to search for roadside bombs in Jenin, a town and adjacent urban refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle of the paramilitary border police, killing a policewoman and wounding three others, police said.

An Israeli military helicopter targeted Palestinians in the area who were throwing explosives at Israeli vehicles and extracted the Israeli forces, the Israeli army said. Seven Palestinians were killed in the airstrike, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Mujahhid Nazal, a doctor at nearby clinic, said he heard a “strong explosion” and rushed to the scene. “It was a really dire situation, seven young men were lying on the ground," he said.

At a funeral for six of those killed in Jenin, four of the men were wrapped in the green flags of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has been locked in a war with Israel in Gaza for the past three months. The two others were covered by the Palestinian flag and the yellow banner of the Fatah movement, a Hamas rival.

The latest events followed a dramatic surge in deadly military raids and increase in restrictions on Palestinian residents across the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war.

Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the territory has also reached record highs, according to the United Nations.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed 330 Palestinians in the West Bank since Hamas’ cross-border attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and roughly 250 were taken hostage.

Most of the Palestinians were killed during shootouts in the West Bank that the Israeli military says began during operations to arrest Palestinian gunmen.

Mourners carry the bodies of six Palestinians, some are draped in the Hamas flags during their funeral in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Six Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police were killed in confrontations in a hot spot of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli military said Sunday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

People inspect the site where six Palestinians were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Six Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police were killed in confrontations in a hot spot of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli military said Sunday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Mourners carry the bodies of six Palestinians draped in the Hamas flags during their funeral in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Six Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police were killed in confrontations in a hot spot of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli military said Sunday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinian gunmen attend the funeral of six Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Six Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police were killed in confrontations in a hot spot of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli military said Sunday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians inspect the site where a roadside bomb killed one Israeli paramilitary police officer and injured three others during overnight clashes in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Six Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police were killed in confrontations in a hot spot of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli military said Sunday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed).

Israeli security forces examine the scene of a Palestinian shooting attack, near Wadi al-Haramiya, West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A Palestinian resident of Jerusalem who presumably was mistaken by the assailants as an Israeli because of the Israeli car license plates was fatally shot in the shooting, the Magen David Adom rescue service said. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers stand guard next to the scene of a Palestinian shooting attack, near Wadi al-Haramiya, West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A Palestinian resident of Jerusalem who presumably was mistaken by the assailants as an Israeli because of the Israeli car license plates was fatally shot in the shooting, the Magen David Adom rescue service said. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Mourners react over the bodies of six Palestinians, draped in the Hamas flags during their funeral in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Six Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police were killed in confrontations in a hot spot of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli military said Sunday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

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