PA says two women, one pregnant, killed by Israeli fire in West Bank; IDF probing
PA health ministry identifies the two women as Rahaf al-Ashqar, 21, and Sundus Shalabi, 23, who was 8 months pregnant; IDF expands offensive into Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem
The Palestinian Authority health ministry reported on Sunday that two Palestinian women, one of them pregnant, were shot and killed by Israeli gunfire in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem, amid an expansion of the IDF’s ongoing counter-terrorism offensive in the northern West Bank.
The IDF Military Police has launched an investigation into the incident, it said, in response to a query later Sunday.
PA health officials identified the two women as Rahaf al-Ashqar, 21, and Sundus Shalabi, 23.
The PA health ministry said Shalabi was eight months pregnant, and added that her husband, Yazan Abu Shola, was severely injured in the incident.
“Medical teams were unable to save the baby’s life due to the [IDF] preventing the transfer of the injured to the hospital,” the PA health ministry said in a statement.
She was dead when she arrived at a local hospital, the ministry said.
The incident took place around dawn, Murad Alyan, a Nur Shams resident told AFP.
“The two were trying to leave the camp before the occupation forces advanced into it. They were shot while they were inside their car, and the wife and her baby were martyred, while the husband was injured,” Alyan said.
The IDF announced earlier on Sunday that it had expanded its ongoing West Bank offensive, with troops beginning to operate in the Nur Shams camp overnight.
So far, troops have shot several terror operatives and detained wanted Palestinians in the area, the military said.
The IDF launched a major offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, in the West Bank on January 21 aimed at rooting out Palestinian terror groups from the Jenin area, which has long been a hotbed of terrorism.
The IDF has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler.
Since October 7, 2023, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 900 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 48 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
