Hundreds of outraged mourners turned out Wednesday for the funeral of a Palestinian teenager who died after being shot by Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint at Hebron in the West Bank. Palestinian media said soldiers also killed a 21-year-old man.
Israel Defense Forces said the teenager was shot Tuesday morning after she tried to stab an Israeli soldier. “Forces responded with fire at the attacker & identified hit,” the IDF said.
But a witness said she was surrounded by soldiers and was standing still when shot.
She has been identified as Hadil al-Hashlamon, a first-year student at Hebron University and the daughter of Dr. Salaheddin Hashlamon, head of the anesthesia department of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, according to the Palestinian Authority-controlled WAFA news agency, citing the International Middle East Media Center. Different sources said she was 17 or 18 years old.
The Palestinians’ anger was fueled by pictures posted on Facebook by the group Youth Against Settlements that showed soldiers pointing guns at a woman covered in black while she appears to stand still.
The family confirmed the death to CNN, which could not independently verify the woman was al-Hashlamon or verify the IDF’s statement that a knife was recovered at the scene.
WAFA said Israeli soldiers prevented a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance from approaching the woman and left her lying on the ground 30 minutes until an ambulance transported her to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba. She died at the hospital.
The Jerusalem Post reported that about 200 Palestinians rioted at the checkpoint where she was killed, throwing rocks and firebombs at soldiers.
WAFA said Israeli soldiers shot a 21-year-old man on Tuesday and let him bleed to death on the ground.
Diaa Mahmoud Talahmeh died near the village of Kharsa, south of Hebron, WAFA reported, citing witnesses and security forces.
No IDF report on the incident was available but WAFA reported the “Israeli narrative,” which said Talahmeh tried to throw an explosive device at a military vehicle when “the device exploded prematurely in Talahmeh’s hands.” Soldiers opened fire and shot him, WAFA said.
WAFA said soldiers cordoned off the area around Talahmeh and didn’t allow a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance to approach.
The two deaths come during a time of soaring tensions.
Israel closed access to the West Bank and Gaza and restricted access to the Old City of Jerusalem because of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
Israel says the restrictions are for security reasons, but Palestinian leaders say the measures are an “attack” on a holy site in Jerusalem, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif — the Noble Sanctuary — and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
It’s also the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Arab youths and Israeli police clashed on September 13 at the al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites in the world for both Muslims and Jews, hours before the start of the Jewish New Year.
Israeli police said they received intelligence on the eve of Rosh Hashanah that masked demonstrators were barricading themselves inside the mosque, while erecting barriers outside to prevent anyone from entering.
The Palestinian news agency Ma’an told a different story, reporting that Israeli forces “stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound shortly after dawn prayer, firing rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades, leading to the injury of several worshipers.”