Israeli police killed two young Palestinian brothers and their parents in the occupied West Bank, shooting all four of them in the head and face as the family returned from a shopping trip during Ramadan.
Mohammed, five, Othman, seven, who was blind and had special needs, their mother Waad Bani Odeh, 35, and father Ali Bani Odeh, 37, were driving through their hometown of Tamoun late on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire.
The killings came hours after Israeli settlers shot dead Amir Moatasem Odeh, 28, in Qusra, south of Nablus. The attackers also stabbed his father, Moatasem Awda, who was taken to hospital in serious condition.
There has been an increase in Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since Israel and the United States launched their war against Iran in late February.
Over two weeks, Israeli settlers shot dead six civilians during invasions of Palestinian olive groves, villages and grazing lands, and one man died after inhaling military-grade tear gas used by the Israeli army.
The attack on the Bani Odeh family brought the number of Palestinians killed to 11. Two brothers survived the shooting. Khaled, 11, the oldest of the brothers, said he had heard his mother crying and his father praying before he died.
After the shooting stopped, Israeli border police dragged him out of the rubble, taunted him for the murders of his family, and attacked him. One of the Israelis said “we killed dogs,” he told Reuters.
The family had been in the nearby city of Nablus to buy clothes for the upcoming Eid festival, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Families often stay up late in a month when adults fast during daylight hours.
“What did this family do? They went to buy essential items for Eid and put a smile on those children’s faces,” said Mansour Abu Islam, Ali’s neighbor and cousin. “This is clear proof that Palestinian lives have no value.”
The gunmen were an undercover unit who were not wearing uniforms and were driving a car with Palestinian license plates, Abu Islam said.
Israeli forces opened fire without warning, Khaled said in an interview from the hospital. After the shooting, an Israeli asked him who was in the car. “I told him, ‘My father, my mother, my three brothers and me.’ He said, ‘You’re lying,’ and then they started hitting and kicking me.”
All four victims were shot in the head and face, and Ali, who was driving, was also shot in the chest and left hand, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Israeli forces initially prevented ambulances from reaching the scene, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement. The army later took the family car, according to eyewitness accounts and videos shared on social media.
A police spokesman said the Bani Odeh family had been killed during a joint operation with the Israeli army. Forces opened fire on the vehicle when they “perceived an immediate threat” after it accelerated, according to the statement.
When asked what threat four young children and their unarmed parents posed, or whether the shooting violated Israeli rules of engagement, the police and military declined to comment.
Police and military were in the area to “arrest wanted suspects believed to be involved in terrorist activities,” according to the statement. “The circumstances of the incident are being reviewed by the relevant authorities.”
The Israeli military has command responsibility over all forces operating in occupied Palestine. A spokesman said border police killed the Bani Odeh family and declined to comment further, referring all questions to police.
