A Palestinian man carries Muhammad Bani Odeh, 5, during the funeral of four members of the Odeh family who were killed in their car by Israeli security forces during a military operation in the West Bank, Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
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Majdi Mohammed/AP
Ramallah, West Bank – Four people, including two children, were killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said.
The official Palestinian news agency said the family was shot late Saturday night as they were out shopping for new clothes for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday. Israel said it was investigating the shooting.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Rescue Service said Ali and Wade Odeh and two of their four children were shot in the head. Odes’ two surviving children had shrapnel wounds and were examined by first responders after they were admitted, the group said, adding that Israel was delaying ambulances dispatched to the scene.
Israel’s military and police said in a joint statement Sunday that troops opened fire after a car drove toward them in Tammun. He said troops were pursuing suspects accused of “terrorist activity” and that the shooting was under investigation.
Members of the Odeh family are the latest casualties in the occupied West Bank, where shootings by Israeli settlers and soldiers have previously killed at least eight Palestinians since the start of the war with Iran.
Since Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities have restricted traffic across the West Bank, intermittently closing hundreds of gates and checkpoints on roads used by residents, ambulances and commercial traffic. The Red Crescent told The Associated Press last week that the blockades have tightened movement and made emergency response significantly more difficult.
Israeli rights group Yesh Din said on Wednesday it had documented 109 incidents of settler violence in dozens of Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank since the war began.
The toll is lower than at this point in 2025 — a record year of violence that began with Israel attacking northern West Bank cities the military said were militant strongholds. Israeli forces still maintain a presence there.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recorded that 18 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2026, including eight Israeli settlers.
