Israeli police forces shot and killed a teenage Palestinian girl in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem early on Sunday evening after she allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack, Israeli police said.
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said that the teenager was shot after she approached Israeli police officers stationed at the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City while holding a knife.
Al-Samri later confirmed that she had been killed, identifying her as a 16-year-old Palestinian from the Ramallah district of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Occupiers assaulting & kidnapped a Palestinian man who tried to go help the girl who was shot by them and left to bleed to her death pic.twitter.com/NHWaF24atG
— Abbs Winston (@AbbsWinston) May 7, 2017
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the girl as Fatima Afif Abd al-Rahman Hjeiji, 16, from the Ramallah-area village of Qarawat Bani Zeid.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement that no police officers had been injured in the alleged attack, adding that Israeli police had cordoned off the area and were investigating the incident.
#Palestine – A Palestinian girl shot dead by Israeli soldiers today in occupied #Jerusalem… pic.twitter.com/NekXDR3gKd
— DOAM (@doamuslims) May 7, 2017
According to Ma’an documentation, Hjeiji is the 20th Palestinian to have been killed by Israelis since the beginning of the year, seven of whom were minors. Seven Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period.
Though Israeli forces often claimed that Palestinians were allegedly attempting to carry out stabbing attacks when they were shot and killed, Palestinians and rights groups have disputed Israel’s version of events in a number of cases.
(Maan, PC, Social Media)
