Palestinians say 23-year-old woman killed during clashes with IDF
Palestinian officials said a 23-year-old woman was shot and killed during clashes Friday between hundreds of demonstrators and Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the woman as Dalia Ahmad Suleiman Samudi and said she had been hit “by live Israeli bullets.” The ministry said that she was taken to a local hospital, where she died of bullet wounds.
The IDF, which entered the al-Jabireen neighborhood in Jenin to arrest a local Palestinian before dawn on suspicion of terror activities, denied using live fire in the incident and said there had been gunfire from the Palestinian side.
“During normal army activity tonight in Jenin, violent riots erupted in which hundreds of Palestinians participated,” an IDF spokesperson told The Times of Israel. They added that IDF troops used “normal methods of crowd dispersion which did not include live fire.” Such riot dispersion methods often include rubber-tipped bullets and tear gas.
According to the IDF, Palestinians had used live fire and thrown stones and explosive devices while clashing with soldiers.
According to a local correspondent for official Palestine TV, Samudi did not participate in the clashes. Rather, she was attempting to close the window of her apartment to protect her child from tear gas when she was shot by a stray bullet.
The Hamas terror group spokesperson Hazim Qasem called Samudi’s death “an execution” by Israel and vowed revenge.
“Our people’s response to these crimes, as always, will be one of renewed resistance action and continued Intifada. Only revolutionary action can restrain the Occupation,” Qasem said.
Israeli forces often conduct search and arrest operations in Palestinian areas to detain suspects for interrogation. The IDF conducted 261 such actions in July alone, according to UN data, detaining hundreds of Palestinians.
Later Friday, hundreds of local Jenin residents carried Samudi’s body through the streets of the city as part of a funeral procession.