2017-I

June 16, 2017: Hadas Malka, 23, was killed by three Palestinians who stabbed and opened fire at Israeli soldiers in Sultan Suleiman Street, near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. Malka, who was an active duty Israeli border police officer, was stabbed while trying to reach for her gun.

Hadas was critically injured, and later died of her wounds at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Another Israeli soldier was wounded in the attack, and the three Palestinians were all shot dead.

The soldiers first killed the Palestinian who reportedly stabbed Malka, and killed two others who used guns and knives to attack the group of soldiers.

The three slain Palestinians have been identified as Bara’ Ibrahim Saleh, 18, Adel Hasan Ankoush, 18, and Osama Ahmad Ata, 19, all from Deir Abu Mashal village, west of Ramallah, in central West Bank.

Following the incident dozens of Israeli soldiers and officers were deployed in the area, closed all the gates leading to Jerusalem’s Old City, and assaulted many Palestinians, especially in the areas leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The soldiers also assaulted many Palestinians, and clashed with local youths, wounding many with live fire and rubber-coated steel bullets.

One of the wounded Palestinians was shot with a live round in his spine, and another round in his kidney. He was picked up by an ambulance, and the soldiers chased the ambulance to the Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, where they tried to invade the hospital. But dozens of Palestinians clashed with them, and prevented them from entering the hospital.

In addition, dozens of soldiers surrounded and completely isolated Deir Abu Mashal village.

The soldiers warned that they would shoot and kill any Palestinian who seen walking outside at night, and that the siege would continue until further notice. The curfew came in the middle of the month of Ramadan, when Palestinian Muslims fast during the day, and eat and drink only at night.

According to an investigation by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 05:30 on Saturday, 17 June 2017, Israeli forces moved into the said village and imposed a curfew.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 05:30 on Saturday, 17 June 2017, Israeli forces moved into the said village and imposed a curfew. The Israeli soldiers accompanied by an engineering team raided the houses belonging to the families of the three attackers and surveyed them for future demolition. Before withdrawal, the Israeli forces handed notices to the owners of the homes where the now-deceased teens lived, saying that their homes will be demolished at an unspecified date, as part of the collective punishment against attackers’ families. Malka was from Moshav Givat Azer in central Israel. Source: IMEMC