“Four martyrs from the same family.” A Palestinian couple and their two young children were shot dead this Sunday by Israeli army fire in the northern occupied West Bank, announced the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also said it recovered the bodies of two adults and two children in a vehicle that Israeli forces fired upon in the village of Tammoun.
Two other children injured
“Four martyrs from the same family arrived at the Turkish public hospital in Toubas after the occupation army opened fire on them in Tammoun,” the Ministry of Health, based in Ramallah, said in a statement.
The hospital received the bodies, all with gunshot wounds, of the man (37 years old) and the woman (35 years old) and the two boys, aged five and seven, the same source added.
The two other children of the couple, aged eight and eleven, were injured by shrapnel, reported the Palestinian news agency WAFA, adding that Israeli forces had fired at their vehicle on Sunday morning.
Israel defends itself
The army and police stated in a joint statement that the events occurred during a joint operation of border police and Israeli soldiers, who were trying to “arrest individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities against security forces.”
“During this operation, a vehicle approached the security forces,” who responded by opening fire, killing “four Palestinians who were in the vehicle,” they said.
In recent days, the West Bank has seen an increase in deadly attacks, mostly carried out by Israeli settlers. At least five Palestinians have been killed since early March, according to Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.
In November, the Israeli army launched an operation against armed Palestinian groups in the northern West Bank, particularly in the areas around Toubas.
Violence on the rise in the territory
Violence in this Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 has greatly increased since the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
The violence has continued despite a ceasefire in effect since October 10 in Gaza.
According to an AFP account based on figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 1,045 Palestinians, including many fighters but also civilians, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza.
At least 45 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in the same region in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli official data.
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