Lubna Hanash, a young Palestinian woman, was shot and killed today by Israeli occupation forces riding in a civilian car near Arroub refugee camp which is on the road between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.

Hanash was a fourth-year political science student at Al-Quds University, according to Al-Quds newspaper, and had been visiting her sister in Arroub camp.

Reuters reported:

Witnesses said Lubna Hanash and her companions were walking to al-Arroub College when men in Israeli military uniforms travelling in a civilian car shot at the group.

Maan news agency, which gave Hanash’s age as 22, said:

Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers traveling in a civilian car opened fire at a group of people at the entrance to al-Arrub refugee camp south of Bethlehem. Lubna Munir Hanash, 22, was shot in the head and died from her injuries, medics said. Suad Yusuf Jaara was shot in the hand and transported to Ahli hospital in Hebron. Witnesses told Ma’an that after the shooting Israeli soldiers prevented an ambulance from arriving at the scene for around 10 minutes. Locals said there were no clashes in the area at the time.

However, local sources reported that clashes broke out between Israeli occupation forces and youths near Arroub refugee camp following the passage of Lubna’s body.

The video above shows raw footage from al-Ahli hospital in Hebron including shots of Hanash on a stretcher with a heavily bandaged head who may be Hanash, another woman in pain, with a bandaged arm on a stretcher, who may be her companion, and a distressed male relative lamenting Hanash’s passing and exclaiming against Palestinian Authority leaders. Another cell phone video (below) shows Hanash’s father losing consciousness after learning of his daughter’s death.

Israeli occupation forces claimed according to Ma’an that “soldiers were attacked by Palestinians who hurled multiple firebombs at them while they were traveling near al-Arrub. Soldiers returned fire and the circumstances of the incident are currently being reviewed.”

However such Israeli claims are routinely made to justify arbitrary killings of Palestinians and almost never result in credible investigations.

Escalation in killings by occupation forces

In December, Muhammad al-Salaymeh, a Hebron teen, was shot dead on his 17th birthday in unexplained circumstances. Claims by the Israeli soldier who shot him that Muhammad had brandished a weapon and taken another soldier hostage, were proven false by video of the incident.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Palestinian child, 15-year-old Salih al-Amarin, died of gunshot wounds inflicted by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem last week.

Ma’an added that last Tuesday, “17-year-old Samir Ahmad Abdul-Rahim was the fourth Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces in less than a week.”

Six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces this month.