An 8-month-pregnant Palestinian woman was killed and her husband critically injured by Israeli forces who claimed they "looked suspiciously at the ground."
Sundus Jamal Shalabi, 23, her 21-year-old husband and their two children were fleeing the West Bank when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers opened fire on their vehicle, fatally striking the mother and critically injuring the father while nearby residents rescued and sheltered the couple's two children, The Cradle reported.
Shalabi "looked suspiciously at the ground" and was potentially planting explosive devices, an army source in the West Bank told Haaretz. However, the woman was unarmed and no weapons were found.
IDF soldiers then blocked a Red Crescent Society ambulance from reaching the pregnant woman for 30 minutes, Middle East Eye reported, and she and her unborn child were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Her husband remains in critical condition.
The Israel-Hamas war ceasefire went into effect on January 19, and by January 21 Israeli forces started operation "Iron Wall." More than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank, according to a United Nations agency, and at least 39 have been killed.
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