Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman at Nablus checkpoint after alleged stabbing attempt
Oct. 19, 2016 1:21 P.M. (Updated: Oct. 19, 2016 5:57 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=773636
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot and killed a young Palestinian woman at the Zaatara military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus on Wednesday after she allegedly attempted to stab Israeli border police.
The slain woman was identified by local sources as 23-year-old Rahiq Shaji Birawi from the village of Asira al-Shamaliya north of Nablus city.
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that Birawi approached Israeli border guards stationed at the Tappuah junction — the Israeli term for the area around the checkpoint — when they fired warning shots into the air. After she “ignored their directives and their calls for her to stop,” Birawi allegedly pulled out a knife, and Israeli forces opened live fire and “neutralized” her.
Al-Samri first said that the woman “seemingly” died, and confirmed her death a short time later.
The head of Asira al-Shamaliya’s local council, Nasser Jawabra, told Ma’an that Birawi “had never been affiliated to any political parties,” and said that she was married to a man currently residing in the United States.
Jawabra said that Birawi’s father was detained by Israeli forces at a military checkpoint near Tulkarem as he returned home from his construction job after being notified of his daughter’s death.