Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian car early Sunday, killing a woman and wounding five other people, Palestinian officials said, quoted by Reuters.
“Israeli soldiers guarding the (Jewish) settlement of Kfar Darom opened fire with a heavy machinegun on a watchtower against a passing Palestinian car,” said Colonel Khaled Abu Al-Ula, commander of Palestinian military liaison in the south Gaza Strip.
Attidal Moamar, 33, died after being shot in the head when Israeli soldiers fired on the car she was traveling in on the road between the towns of Gaza and Rafah, a source at the hospital told AFP.
Her husband Sarif and their two children, aged six months and six years, were said to have been shot and injured as was the driver of another car.
One of the injured children was said to be in serious condition while the other driver was shot in the leg.
An Israeli military source confirmed that there had been an exchange of shots, with Israeli troops opening fire after being shot at themselves.
"The soldiers patrolling near the Kfar Darom settlement were fired on from a vehicle. They returned fire, apparently hitting another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction," the spokesman said.
But Reuters said five other passengers wounded, including two of her three children who were with her in the vehicle.
“We have filed a strong protest to the Israeli side and have asked them to remove all heavy machineguns that have recently been brought to the settlements,” Abu Al-Ula told the agency.
The Israeli army said it was checking on the incident.
Al-Ula said Israeli soldiers told him that “an Israeli military jeep was parking at the gate of the Kfar Darom settlement when one of the soldiers in it accidentally fired his weapon, wounding two of his fellow soldiers.”
He said a soldier at the nearby guard post, apparently believing the Jewish settlement was under attack, opened fire on passing cars – (Several Sources)
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