Palestinian woman dies after West Bank stone-throwing
APalestinian woman died of her wounds after Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank threw stones at the car she was travelling in, Palestinian security sources and media said yesterday.
An Israeli police spokesman confirmed a car had been hit by stones but did not identify the perpetrators.
He said an investigation was underway but did not give further details.
Palestinian official news agency Wafa identified the passenger who died as 48-year-old mother of eight, Aisha Mohamed Rabi.
She died in hospital in the northern West Bank city of Nablus from a head injury sustained in the stone-throwing incident south of the city on Friday, Wafa said, citing medical and Palestinian security sources.
Her husband, who was driving the car at the time, escaped with minor injuries, the same sources said.
Palestinian witnesses and security sources cited by the news agency said the stones were thrown by Israeli settlers.
Stone-throwing incidents implicating Israeli settlers have risen of late, the Palestinian security sources added.
The Israeli army has not commented on the attack.
Tensions have been running high in the West Bank over the past week with two attacks against Israelis.
On Friday, Israeli forces said they had arrested a Palestinian on suspicion of stabbing and wounding an army reservist on guard duty at a checkpoint south of Nablus the previous day.
Another wanted Palestinian, who is suspected of killing two Israeli colleagues and wounding a third in the northern West Bank last Sunday, remains on the run.
Israeli security forces have identified him as Ashraf Naalwa, 23. A wave of mainly lone-wolf Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the West Bank erupted in 2015 but had largely abated.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians attended funerals yesterday for seven young men shot dead a day earlier by Israeli troops during fresh demonstrations along the Gaza border, an AFP correspondent said.
Mourners, including leaders of the enclave’s rulers Hamas, chanted slogans condemning Israel for shooting civilians and called on the international community to deliver justice.
The Israeli army said five Palestinians had been killed during the protests Friday after they broke through the heavilyguarded border fence and attacked an army post.
Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said around 20 Palestinians had crossed the border in an “organised attack” after an explosive device destroyed a portion of the fence.
About five of those who got through the fence assaulted an Israeli army position and were “repelled”, he wrote on Twitter.
The enclave’s health ministry said seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as thousands of protesters approached the heavily-guarded Israeli border.
Yesterday, the ministry named the victims as: Ahmed al-Taweel, 27, Mohamed Ismail, 29, Ahmed Abu Naim, 17, Abdullah Daghma, 25, Afifi Atta Afifi, 18, Tamer Abu Armaneh, 25 and Mohamed Abbas, 21. At least 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since protests began on March 30.
The majority were killed during border demonstrations, though others have died in airstrikes and tank shelling.
One Israeli soldier has been killed.
The protesters are demanding to be allowed to return to land now inside Israel, from which their families fled or were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Jewish state. They are also calling for Israel to end its crippling blockade of the strip.
There had been hopes the protests would ease after a UNbrokered agreement to ease the Strip’s energy crisis took effect this week.