Israeli forces kill Palestinian family of four in West Bank, mirroring Gaza war crime

2026-03-16 - 10:22

Israeli occupation forces have repeated their brutal Gaza war crimes in the West Bank, killing a Palestinian family of four in the Tubas-area town of Tamun on Sunday. According to local sources and the Palestinian Red Crescent, 37-year-old Ali Khalid Sayil Bani Awda, 35-year-old Waad Bani Awda, and their children Mohammed, 5, and Othman, 6, were shot dead when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicle. Survivor testimony Khalid Ali Khalid, one of two surviving children along with his brother Mustafa, described the attack: "Israeli soldiers targeted our vehicle directly with laser guidance and opened fire. They killed my father, my mother, and my two brothers. We were returning from Nablus where we had gone to buy Eid clothes." He said medical teams and ambulances were prevented from reaching the scene, and that no medical intervention was provided to his parents and brothers in the ambulances that eventually transported them. Parallel to Gaza massacre The incident recalls the February 2024 massacre of the Rajab family in Gaza, when Israeli forces deliberately targeted a vehicle carrying 12 family members seeking humanitarian aid. The world was horrified by the killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, whose family's bodies were only recovered 12 days later. Since January 2025, Israel has been conducting military operations across the northern West Bank, transforming the area into what activists describe as "a second Gaza." Israeli admission Israeli police admitted to the killings in a statement, claiming troops raided Tamun overnight to arrest Palestinians suspected of "terrorist activities." The statement alleged the family's vehicle was "approaching Israeli forces rapidly" and that troops opened fire, killing four Palestinians. Police announced an investigation would be opened, though activists note that investigations into previous crimes, including the Hind Rajab killing, have produced no results. Settlement expansion context The killing occurred against the backdrop of ongoing Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, where illegal outposts continue to be constructed on stolen Palestinian land, forcibly displacing communities. Israeli authorities exercise arbitrary military rule over the occupied territory, with Palestinians subjected to systematic human rights violations.