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Photo: Reuters
Officer, soldier suspended over killing of Palestinian girl
Da'a Abdelkader, 14, was shot at by IDF soldier near Pharaoun village and died of her wounds in Petach Tikva hospital
Central Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh ordered the suspension from duty of an Israel Defense Forces officer over the killing of a 14-year-old Palestinian girl near Tulkarm on Tuesday.
The soldier who opened fire at the girl was also suspended until the conclusion of an investigation by the Military Police.
IDF Operations
During disturbances in village near Tulkarm, soldiers fire at demonstrators; 14-year-old girl seriously injured, later dies of her wounds. In other incidents in West Bank, commander of Fatah's military wing another wanted suspect also killed
Sensors in the security fence section near the West Bank village of Pharaoun alarmed an IDF base in the area that the fence had been approached and a force was dispatched to inspect.
A force identified two Kaffiyeh-clad figures near the fence and a soldier opened fire, killing the girl.
The soldier told his officer that he was sure the figure was a suicide bomber.
Upon identifying the figures as two Palestinian girls, soldiers rushed Da'a Abdelkader to the Beilinson Medical Center in Petach Tikva suffering from serious wounds. She died in hospital.
Abdelkader's teenage companion was taken to a Nablus hospital by Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics where her light wounds were treated.
IDF soldiers are not authorized to open fire without orders from a commander unless their lives are in immediate danger.
In response to the incident B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, demanded the IDF immediately publish its rules of engagement, in wake of the girl's death.
The organization demanded the IDF confirm that "the rules of engagement in the area of the separation fence do not allow firing towards civilians."
Ali Waked and Meital Yasur-Beit Or contributed to the report
