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Tulkarm in the West Bank: Acts of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians

Photo: Majdi Mohammed / dpa

Exactly three months after the start of the war in the Middle East, Israeli police have shot dead a Palestinian child in the occupied West Bank. According to the Israeli police, the girl was injured on Sunday when officers targeted suspected "terrorists" at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. They tried to carry out an attack with their vehicles, the Israeli authority added.

According to a police statement and CCTV footage, a large van broke through barriers at the Ras Bidu checkpoint near the Israeli settlement of Givat Seev between Jerusalem and Ramallah. A smaller van, which followed the large one, hit police officers and then sped away. The police then shot at the two cars. The injured three-year-old girl from the other car was pronounced dead after an examination by paramedics, according to the emergency services.

Police said the alleged attackers were also hit by gunfire. However, her condition is unclear.

Acts of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have reached a new high in 2023, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din announced earlier this week. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) counted 1225,<> attacks by settlers on Palestinians last year.

In the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, around three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis live in settlements that are classified by the UN as illegal under international law.

ssp/AFP/AP/Reuters