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Palestinian woman shot dead by Israelis in West Bank after attempted attack
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, June 16, 2021 (BSS /AFP) – A Palestinian woman was shot dead in the West Bank on Wednesday after attempting to ram Israeli soldiers with her car and attack them with a knife, the army and Palestinian health ministry said.
The Israeli army said “an assailant arrived in her car and attempted to ram into a number of IDF soldiers” near Hizma, south of Ramallah, before she “exited her vehicle with a knife drawn.”
“The soldiers responded with fire towards the assailant and neutralised her,” it said.
The Palestinian health ministry said the woman died of her wounds.
“The Palestinian civil liaison informed the health ministry of the death of a woman shot by (Israeli forces) in Hizma,” it said in a statement, citing the body that coordinates with Israel on military and civilian issues concerning the occupied West Bank.
Official Palestinian news website Wafa identified the woman as Mai Afana, 29, from the town of Abu Dis, which is east of Jerusalem.
The incident came amid fresh tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel carried out air strikes early Wednesday targeting Hamas military compounds in the Gaza Strip after people in the Palestinian territory launched incendiary balloons at southern Israel.
The balloons, which caused over 20 fires, were sent in the wake of a march of ultranationalist Israelis in Jerusalem’s flashpoint Old City on Tuesday.
It was the first flare-up in violence between Israel and Palestinian militants since a May 21 ceasefire ended 11 days of heavy fighting between the two sides.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip between May 10 to 21 killed 260 Palestinians including some fighters, the Gaza authorities said.
In Israel, 13 people were killed in the fighting, including a soldier, by rockets and missiles fired from Gaza, the police and army said.
BSS/AFP/BZC /1640HRS