A 16-year-old Palestinian girl, Lujain Osama Musleh, was killed in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank this week. According to her father, she was shot by an Israeli sniper while looking out of her home’s window on Tuesday.
The Israeli military is currently investigating her death, which occurred during a large-scale operation involving hundreds of soldiers and armored vehicles across different parts of the West Bank.
Lujain’s father, Osama Musleh, said that Israeli troops had surrounded the neighboring house when his daughter was shot in the forehead after simply pulling back a curtain to see what was happening. He emphasized that she did not participate in any violent acts, such as throwing stones or carrying weapons, and was merely looking outside when the soldier shot her.
“She was only 16 years old,” he said. “The soldier saw her and shot her with one bullet aimed directly at her forehead.”
This death is part of a larger Israeli military operation, which began a week ago and has resulted in the killing of more than 30 Palestinians and dozens of arrests. While most of those killed were members of armed groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or Fatah, others, including Lujain, were uninvolved civilians.
The Israeli military described the operation as its largest in the West Bank in months, aimed at stopping Iranian-backed militant groups from planning attacks on Israeli civilians. Over the past week, clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters have damaged homes, other buildings, and roadways as the military searches for improvised explosive devices.
