Palestinian girl dies after being shot by Israeli forces
A 15-year-old Palestinian girl died from her wounds on Wednesday after being shot during an Israeli raid, bringing the death toll from the attack on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin at the start of the week to seven.
Sadeel Ghassan Naghniyeh Turkman was shot in the head by Israeli forces on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
In addition to Turkman, 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.
An Israeli security source speaking anonymously to Army Radio said that the chances that Israeli forces hit the girl were “low”. The military is expected to investigate the death, though similar probes in the past have not led to any serious action being taken.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military concluded after an investigation that it had “unintentionally” killed two-year-old Muhammad Tamimi after mistaking him and his father, Haytham, for gunmen firing a weapon towards an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
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The Israeli army, however, said it would reprimand the soldier for firing his weapon into the air “in violation of orders” and that the army would “continue to learn and improve”.
Another Israeli investigation into the death of an elderly Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, 80, concluded last week and absolved soldiers of any wrongdoing.
Assad was stopped at a checkpoint in the West Bank in January last year, dragged from his car, his hands bound, and then blindfolded and left on the ground overnight. He suffered a heart attack, which his family and the Palestinian Ministry of Health attributed to his abusive treatment.
The investigation concluded that Israeli soldiers thought Assad was asleep when he was slumped on the floor and didn’t check to see if he was alive until the next morning.
A report by Israeli rights group Yesh Din found 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 data shows that Israel has a "complete disregard for Palestinians' lives and encourages the continued use of the deadly trigger-happy policy that has claimed so many Palestinian lives," the report said.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 163 Palestinians this year, including 27 children.
A total of 129 fatalities have been recorded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and a further 34 in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians have killed at least 24 Israelis in the same period.
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