Incident came as tensions between Jewish and Muslim communities increased as key holidays approached


This is the moment an armed Israeli soldier was involved in a stand-off with a veiled Palestinian woman - just seconds before she was killed for trying to stab a serviceman to death.

Hadeel al-Hashlamon, 18, was shot at a West Bank checkpoint yesterday, as tensions continued to simmer ahead of this week's major Jewish and Muslim holidays.

Photographs taken in the moments before she was gunned down reveal how at least two soldiers had their guns trained on the veiled teenager just before she was killed.

Later the military said forces opened fire and 'identified a hit' following the incident in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The university student was taken to an Israeli hospital in a critical condition and her father, Salah al-Hashlamon, said she later died of her injuries. The soldier was not wounded.

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Stand-off: An Israeli soldier aims his rifle at a veiled woman, though to be Hadeel al-Haslamon, a Palestinian teenager who tried to stab a soldier on the West Bank city of Hebron

Tense: Another soldier is seen here joining the strand-off as a man in civilian attire seems to try to intervene. Shortly after this picture was taken, al-Hashlamon was shot dead

Family members were pictured grieving over the body of 18-year-old Hadeel Al-Haslhamoun after she was shot by Israeli forces

Mourning: Friends and family of al-Hashlamon are pictured here carrying her body through the streets of Hebron after the shooting

Video has since emerged of the teenager lying on the ground at the check point moments after the shooting.

It shows soldiers watching on as her body is pulled out from under a fence while further footage shows medics on the scene and a man arriving with a stretcher.

According to local Palestinian media, she had been shot 10 times after refusing to reveal the contents of her purse or lift her face veil.

However an eyewitness told the New York Times that she was trying to show soldiers what was in her bag when she was shot.

A separate witness, Fawaz Abu Aisheh, 34, told the Times that she appeared to freeze as the drama unfolded - even when a soldier shot at her feet.

He is quoted as saying: 'She was like a nail, like she was in shock. I was shouting, ‘She doesn’t understand Hebrew!'

'Even if she had a knife, she would have to leap over a barrier about a meter high to reach a soldier,' he said, adding that there were up to seven soldiers with 'heavy weapons'.

Eyewitnesses said Hadeel al-Hashlamun appeared to freeze as the drama unfolded - even when a soldier shot at her feet

Video footage shows the 18-year-old lying on the ground moments after she was was shot. There have been unconfirmed reports she may have been shot up to 10 times

The film also shows soldiers wearing protective gloves pulling the teenager's body out from under fencing at the check point

There have also been allegations that she was left lying on the street for up to half an hour before Israeli soldiers allowed doctors to reach her

The Middle East Eye news agency reported how there were claims that she was left lying on the street for half an hour before Israeli soldiers allowed doctors to reach her.

Earlier on Tuesday, the military said a 23-year-old Palestinian was found dead in a village near Hebron - allegedly after an explosive device he was handling went off.

The military said it arrived in the area to respond to rock throwing. The Palestinians said the circumstances behind the man's death were unclear.

The violence comes amid rising tensions surrounding Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The site, holy to both Jews and Muslims, has been a flashpoint for violence in recent days.

Tensions boiled over last week on the eve of the Jewish new year holiday of Rosh Hashanah when Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and, in clashes with police that would continue for days, threw rocks and firecrackers at officers. An Israeli man was also killed in Jerusalem when Palestinians pelted his car with rocks.

Unrest: Hebron has been a scene of violence for days. Palestinian youths are pictured above last Friday burning an Israeli flag

Several rockets from the Gaza Strip have also been fired recently, and Israel has deployed its Iron Dome rocket defense system in towns near the Palestinian territory.

Speaking in Paris on Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for an end to the violence. 'It's extremely dangerous. We don't want to see this continue,' he told the media after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande.

Ahead of the Yom Kippur fast, which began Tuesday evening, Israel reinstated a rule banning Muslim men under age 40 from the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a measure to ensure calm during the holiday. It also said West Bank and Gaza crossings would be closed during the holiday, and would reopen Wednesday.

Attacks: Palestinians throw Molotov cocktails towards Israeli Border Police during the clashes last Friday

Angry: Palestian marchers take their anger to the streets after Hamas called for what it described as a 'day of rage'

Police said security will be beefed up during the 25-hour fast, which comes two days ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice.

Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim - or Abraham as he is known in the Bible - to sacrifice his son in accordance with God's will, though in the end God provides him a sheep to sacrifice instead.

Near the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, police were seen preventing men and women from entering the mosque Tuesday.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said some women were being barred from entering because they were part of an outlawed group that sees itself as defenders of the Muslim holy site and tries to disrupt Jewish visits to the site.

The age limit for men at Al-Aqsa has been put in place intermittently after protests erupted at the site, with mostly younger Palestinians throwing rocks clashing with police at the compound and elsewhere.