Palestinian woman fires at Israelis outside West Bank settlement, is shot dead

IDF says the terrorist, armed with a M-16, shot at both citizens and troops at entrance to Kiryat Arba before soldiers ‘neutralized’ her; no injuries among Israelis

By ToI Staff 19 May 2021, 6:56 pm

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In security video released by the Israel Defense Forces, a Palestinian woman can be seen firing toward the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba on May 19, 2021. (Screen capture)

A Palestinian woman on Wednesday opened fire at Israelis outside the southern West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, before being shot dead by soldiers.

The terrorist, armed with an M-16, shot at Israeli citizens and troops as she approached the entrance to Kiryat Arba, according to the military.

Two soldiers returned fire, “neutralizing her,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

No Israelis were injured.

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The incident followed several other recent attacks in the West Bank, where on Tuesday thousands of Palestinians rioted amid growing tensions over the fighting in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas terror group, as well as over Jerusalem.

The West Bank and Jerusalem have seen increased violence during the current hostilities in the Gaza Strip, which began last Monday when the enclave’s Hamas rulers fired several rockets at Jerusalem, setting off the worst flare-up of fighting in seven years.

Palestinian rioters clash with Israeli security forces near the Huwara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, May 18, 2021. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Also Wednesday, the IDF said it intends to demolish the home of the Palestinian who carried out a deadly drive-by shooting attack in the northern West Bank on May 2. Three Israelis were wounded in the attack, including 19-year-old student Yehuda Guetta, who succumbed to his injuries days later.

Yehuda Guetta, 19, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank (courtesy)

The IDF said it has informed the family of the suspected terrorist, Muntasir Shalabi, of its plans to demolish the home where he lived in the northern West Bank town of Turmus Ayya. It noted the family can file an appeal against the move.

Israeli troops mapped out the home earlier this month after nabbing Shalabi, 47.

Israeli authorities often take punitive action such as home demolitions even before a conviction in cases of terrorist attacks. Jerusalem defends the practice of razing the family home of attackers as a deterrent against future assaults and officials have argued that speed is essential, claiming that the deterrent factor degrades over time.

Over the years, a number of Israeli defense officials have questioned the efficacy of the practice and human rights activists have denounced it as unfair collective punishment.