Israeli forces shoot dead two Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, for allegedly trying to stab Israeli officers.
The incident took place on Wednesday after a woman, purportedly holding a knife, and a man walked towards police and other Israeli security guards in a vehicles-only lane at the Qalandiya checkpoint between al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the city of Ramallah.
Israeli police said the two ignored several orders to stop.
The woman “stopped a short distance from the officers, then walked the other way with the man, when she suddenly turned around to face the officers again, pulled a knife that was in her purse and threw it at an officer near her,” Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri claimed.
A second knife similar to the woman's was also found in the man's belt, in addition to a butterfly knife, she added.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victims as Maram Abu Ismail, 23, and her 16-year-old brother, Ibrahim Taha.
The woman was killed immediately, but her brother’s death was confirmed shortly after he was shot.
An eyewitness told Palestine's Ma'an news agency that Israeli forces fired over 15 rounds at the woman’s body.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma’an that Israeli forces denied Palestinian paramedics access to the victims for medical treatment.
No Israelis were injured in the incident.
The occupied territories have been the scene of heightened tensions since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.
The Palestinians say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the holy Muslim site.
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