Palestinians: Bethlehem woman dies from tear gas
IDF denies gas involved in woman’s death; man shot in the leg by Israeli forces near Gaza border
A Palestinian woman died in hospital Tuesday, Palestinian medical officials said, alleging the woman had inhaled tear gas used by the Israeli army to disperse protesters near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
But the military denied tear gas was the cause of death.
Late on Monday the army “fired tear gas near the home of the woman, who was suffering from health problems,” the medical official told AFP.
The woman, in her 40s, “died after arriving at hospital,” the official said.
The incident took place at Ayda refugee camp northwest of Bethlehem, where Palestinians regularly clash with Israeli soldiers.
“The death was not linked to the use of riot dispersal means by the army, including tear gas,” an army spokeswoman said, confirming the clashes but giving no further details.
Also Tuesday, officials in the Gaza Strip said a 23-year-old farmer was seriously injured after being shot in the leg by IDF troops near the Erez border crossing in the north of the territory.
Ashraf al-Qoudra, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Ministry of Health, said the young man was collecting gravel at the time of the shooting.
The IDF said the man had been part of a group of approximately 30 people who gathered in a forbidden area near the crossing. A spokeswoman said soldiers warned the group to move away and fired warning shots in the air. When they failed to do so, the troops fired a shot at one man’s legs and identified hitting him.
On Monday, an Israeli civilian was killed in a shooting near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the army said, as the seven-day Passover holiday began.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
