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Israelis gun down Palestinian woman in West Bank over alleged attack

Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups say the soldiers often use excessive force and could stop the assailants without killing them. In some cases, they say innocent people have been identified as attackers and shot.

AP

Israeli police work at the site of an alleged vehicle attack near Hizmeh Junction in the West Bank, Wednesday, June 16, 2021.

Israeli troops have shot and killed a Palestinian woman, saying she tried to ram her car into a group of soldiers guarding a West Bank construction site.

In a statement, the army said soldiers opened fire at the woman in Hizmeh, just north of Jerusalem, after she exited the car and pulled out a knife.

The statement did not say how close the woman was to the soldiers, and the army did not release any photos or video of the incident.

In recent years, Israel has seen a series of reported shootings, stabbings and car ramming attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.

Most Palestinian suspects have had no apparent links to organised militant groups.

Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups say the soldiers often use excessive force and could stop the assailants without killing them.

In some cases, they say that innocent people have been identified as attackers and shot.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed the woman's death, identifying her only as a 29-year-old resident of Abu Dis, a West Bank town on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. It gave no further details.