Israel Fires on Family Car in Occupied West Bank, Killing Four

Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian family vehicle in the occupied West Bank town of Tammun, killing four members of the same family including two young children, according to multiple sources.

“Four members of the same Palestinian family, including two boys aged 5 and 7, who were out on a late-night drive after breaking the daily Ramadan fast, have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, Palestinian officials reported”

CNN

The attack occurred early Sunday morning as the family of six was returning home from buying new clothes for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday after breaking their Ramadan fast.

CNN

Palestinian authorities identified the victims as Ali Bani Odeh, aged 37, his wife Waed Bani Odeh, 35, and their two sons aged five and seven.

The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service confirmed that the victims were shot in the head, and that two other children aged eight and 11 were wounded by shrapnel.

A neighbor who witnessed the aftermath described the scene as showing the 'true nature of the Israeli occupation and its policies based on killing and extermination.'

The incident presents sharply contrasting narratives between Israeli military accounts and Palestinian eyewitness testimony.

Israeli forces claimed they opened fire after the family's vehicle 'accelerated toward them' in Tammun during an operation to arrest Palestinians wanted for 'terrorist activity against security forces.'

Common Dreams

However, Palestinian survivors and witnesses disputed this account, with one 11-year-old survivor recounting that 'Suddenly there were direct gunshots towards us' without any prior warning or provocation.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the killings as a 'terrifying arbitrary execution crime that targeted an entire Palestinian family inside their vehicle,' alleging that Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian Red Crescent workers from reaching the family, leading to what they called the families' 'deliberate and cold-blooded execution.'

Al Jazeera journalist Nida Ibrahim reported that the family 'did not know that Israeli forces were there as they were in a Palestinian car,' suggesting the soldiers were not clearly identifiable as a threat.

This shooting represents part of a broader escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank that has intensified since October 2023 when the Gaza genocide began.

“28, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry”

Daily Sabah

Palestinian authorities and the United Nations have documented a spike in deadly attacks, mostly by Israeli settlers, with at least five Palestinians killed since the start of March and nine killed in the two weeks since the war against Iran began.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza genocide - many of them militants, but also scores of civilians.

In stark contrast, official Israeli figures show that 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has condemned this escalation as 'a direct result of the expansion of shooting instructions in the Israeli army, the rising violence of settlers amid the prevalence of an impunity policy, and the entrenchment of ethnic cleansing amid unprecedented international silence.'

The violence occurs against the backdrop of Israel's nearly 60-year occupation of the West Bank, where more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts that are illegal under international law.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the Tammun shooting as 'not isolated incidents, but part of a comprehensive and systematic aggression aimed at exterminating the Palestinian people and displacing them, in clear exploitation of the escalation occurring in the region.'

El País

The ministry called for international investigation of 'genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity' against Palestinians and urged holding 'those responsible to be held accountable before the justice system.'

Human rights advocates note that movement restrictions imposed due to the Iran war have emboldened settlers to attack Palestinians with the knowledge that ambulances will be delayed in reaching their victims.

The incident in Tammun follows a pattern where Israeli forces have been accused of preventing medical teams from accessing victims, contributing to higher casualty figures and what human rights organizations describe as a systematic policy of impunity.