2022-P

April 10, 2022: Ghada Ibrahim Ali Sabateen, 48, was killed by Israeli soldiers in Husan village, west of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.

The Ministry said Ghada, a widowed mother of six children, was shot in the thigh and added that the bullet severed an artery, leading to excessive bleeding.

Eyewitnesses denied the military allegations about an alleged stabbing attempt and said the soldiers seemed to be very frightened and on edge when they installed the roadblock at the eastern entrance of Husan town.

They added that, immediately after seeing Ghada walking in their direction, they started shouting at her, startling her, and causing her to panic, before they fired two rounds at the woman although she posed no threat to them.

The soldiers left Ghada bleeding without first aid while they “secured the area”, and later allowed the Palestinian medics to reach her before taking her to Beit Jala governmental hospital.

Israeli daily Haaretz said, “Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian woman in her forties after she approached them in a suspicious manner”.

Haaretz also said “no weapons were found on her person”, and that the army is allegedly “investigating the incident.”

The slain woman cannot see in one eye, and her vision in the second eye is weak. Her funeral ceremony was held in Husan a few hours after the soldiers killed her.

It is worth mentioning that the soldiers attacked and detained a Palestine TV crew and prevented them from documenting the unfolding events.

Video By Palestine TV

The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR) said its independent investigation revealed that the soldiers established a checkpoint near eastern Husan village, western Bethlehem, to search the passers-by and check their IDs.

“At around 12:15, Ghada who was wearing glasses and abaya crossed the street towards the Israeli soldiers who were on the pavement; two were behind a cement cube and one was in front of them.

Video footage showed the woman walking on the pavement when she was targeted, and her hands were empty, and did not carry anything.  She approached where 3 soldiers were positioned; two were behind cement cubes and one in front of them.  The latter opened fire at the woman, wounding her in the left thigh, and she fell to the ground.

According to the investigations, when the passers-by attempted to help her, the soldiers forcibly pushed them away and fired tear gas canisters at them.  Meanwhile, the soldiers thoroughly searched the wounded woman and cut her clothes without giving her first aid.

When they were sure she did not have any knife or tool, they allowed the passers-by after half an hour of severe bleeding to take her in a civilian vehicle to Beit Jala Hospital to receive treatment.  A few minutes later, the medical crews at the hospital pronounced her death after succumbing to her injury caused by a bullet that penetrated the leg artery and massive blood loss due to being left to bleed for half an hour at the scene without offering her first aid.

PCHR’s investigations confirm that Sabateen was visually impaired, she did not pose threat or danger to the Israeli soldiers’ lives, and they could have controlled her without resorting to excessive force.

Sabateen’s family affirmed that she had a visual impairment, and she was a widow and mother of 6 children from Husan village. The family added that Sabateen was heading to her relative’s house in the village. According to eyewitnesses, she approached the soldiers, although they warned her, perhaps because she was confused and stumbled while passing by the street adjacent to the soldiers, who did not give her enough time to obey their orders and immediately opened fire at her.”

Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Eshteyya, denounced “Israel’s state-sponsored terrorism” and the allegations the soldiers constantly use to justify the killings of the Palestinians.

Eshteyya also called on the International Community and all international legal and human rights groups to condemn the escalating Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and act on stopping them.

Ghada was from Husan village, west of Bethlehem. Source: IMEMC