From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Palestinian woman, 68, dies during Israeli raid in West Bank; husband says soldier pushed her; IDF denies entering home
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA 68-year-old Palestinian woman died during an IDF raid of her village in the northern West Bank early Tuesday, according to Palestinian media.
WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, says Sabriya Shamasneh suffered heart failure due to the “intense shock and fear” after soldiers tried to forcibly enter her home in the village of Jayyus at about 2 a.m. She was reportedly declared dead at a hospital in Qalqilya.
The IDF denies having entered her home, and says soldiers who were operating nearby went there to give her medical care after receiving an alert that she had suffered a heart attack, according to the Ynet news site.
الشهيدة المسنّة صبرية أمين شماسنة (68 عاماً) التي ارتقت خلال اقتحام قوات الاحتلال منزلها في بلدة جيوس شرق قلقيلية pic.twitter.com/8dfgARdFxn
— قناة عودة الفضائية (@AwdehTV) April 7, 2026
But speaking to Al Jazeera, Sabriya’s husband Walid says soldiers did raid his home, and that a soldier used his assault rifle to push Sabriya, who hit her head against a wall and died.
“I got up to get dressed, but they were already knocking down the door and entering our room,” he says, adding that the soldiers proceeded to search clothes, bedding and furniture before leaving.
Sabriya then exited the house to call out for her son, thinking the soldiers had seized him from the home of a relative in the village, the husband says. It is unclear from his comments if she was in front of their home or in another location, or why she assumed they were searching for her son.
"الجندي دفعها بالسلاح ورأسها ضرب في السور".. الفلسطيني وليد شماسنة يروي لحظة استشهاد زوجته صبرية شماسنة جراء اعتداء جنود الاحتلال عليها خلال اقتحام منزلها.. ماذا قال؟ #رقمي pic.twitter.com/PSFLfSRjzi
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) April 7, 2026
As Sabriya sought her son, a soldier “pushed her with part of the weapon he had with him; she collapsed and her head hit the wall,” says Walid Shamasneh, adding that “when she fell, there was foam coming out of her mouth, and she didn’t speak.”
“I came and she was strewn on the ground. I said [to the soldier], ‘Have you no mercy or compassion? The woman is dead’,” says the husband.
The soldier responded that an ambulance would come take her to the hospital, and the troops carried on their operation, says Walid Shamasneh.
“Is there a darker day than this?” he asks, in tears.
The Times of Israel Community.