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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1038889003180http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1038889003180
Dec. 4, 2002
IDF to investigate shooting death of 95-year-old Palestinian woman
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
The army has launched an investigation into the death of a 95-year-old Palestinian woman and the wounding of two other Palestinians after soldiers deployed between Surda and Beit El shot at their vehicle when the driver ignored their warnings to stop Tuesday morning.
Fatima Hassan Abeid from the village of Attara was traveling to Ramallah to purchase gifts for her 19 grandchildren to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, according to Palestinian sources. To avoid roadblocks, the taxi van she was traveling in drove on a road Palestinian vehicles are not allowed to use.
According to Palestinian reports, the soldiers "attacked the minibus and smashed the windshield with their rifle butts" and then shot at the vehicle.
Abeid was shot in the back and two other passengers were wounded. One of the wounded was identified as Kifaya Rafat, 41, who suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh.
According to the IDF Spokesman, soldiers called on the vehicle to stop. When their calls were ignored the soldiers fired warning shots in the air and then shot at the wheels of the vehicle. Only later was the army informed that a Palestinian woman had been killed, the IDF Spokesman said.
The soldier who fired the shots was running at the time, which would have affected the accuracy of his shooting, and 17 bullets were fired at the vehicle, Channel 2 reported.
The IDF Spokesman refused to comment on the report, saying the entire incident is being investigated. Ramallah district commander Col. Roni Numa is in charge of the probe, which will examine whether the soldiers acted in accordance with regulations that allow them to shoot at a vehicle only when their lives are in danger.
Prior to the incident, a Palestinian taxi attempted to run over soldiers deployed in the area. Security forces arrested the driver and a passenger.
Elsewhere, four Palestinians were killed in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Monday. Three were killed in clashes with soldiers and a fourth, who was with a group of laborers near the Erez industrial zone in the northern Gaza Strip, was killed when a mortar shell fired by Palestinians landed nearby.
In the West Bank:
Palestinian gunmen fired at an IDF patrol in Jiba'a, south of Nablus.
Soldiers captured a Palestinian in Awarta, south of Nablus, after he threw stones and firebombs at them.
Soldiers operating in Tel, southwest of Nablus, spotted a 15 kilogram bomb, which they detonated.
The curfew was lifted on Jenin, Kalkilya, Tulkarm, Ramallah, and Nablus during the day.
Meanwhile, 17 fugitives were arrested in raids throughout the West Bank. Two were arrested in Kod, south of Jenin, one north of Bekaot, and two near Mevo Dotan. A Hamas fugitive and another Palestinian suspect were arrested in Tubas, northeast of Nablus. An Islamic Jihad fugitive was arrested in Idna, west of Hebron. A Tanzim fugitive in Dura, west of Hebron, six fugitives in the Balata refugee camp, and two in Bethlehem were also arrested.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fired an anti-tank rocket at an IDF outpost near Kfar Darom. Shots were also fired throughout the day at an IDF outpost near Neveh Dekalim.
There were no casualties in any of the incidents and no damage was reported.
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