Israeli forces shot at a vehicle carrying a family in the northern West Bank, resulting in the deaths of four individuals, including two children, as reported by the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service stated that Ali and Waed Odeh, along with two of their four children, were fatally shot in the head. The two surviving children sustained shrapnel wounds that were attended to by first responders after facing delays in ambulance access, with Israel being accused of causing the delay.
In a joint statement on Sunday, Israel’s military and police mentioned that the firing occurred when a car allegedly accelerated towards them in Tammun. The forces were in pursuit of suspects linked to “terrorist activity,” and the incident is currently under investigation. Najah al-Subhi, who lost her son and grandchildren in the tragic event, revealed that the family had gone shopping at a mall in Nablus for Eid al-Fitr, the festivity marking the end of Ramadan. The surviving children suffered shrapnel wounds in their eyes and heads.
Tammun’s mayor, Sameer Basharat, learned about the Odeh family’s ordeal during the night, noting that the shooting took place in the town’s central area, where the Israeli military has a daily presence. The town has been under Israeli control for over a year following an offensive in the northern West Bank aimed at combatting militants.
Apart from the shooting incident, Basharat mentioned that residents have been evicted and denied access to farmland while Israel has been seizing land for a new fence in the Jordan Valley. Tammun has also experienced frequent raids and road closures, impacting the daily lives and livelihoods of its inhabitants who are currently grieving the tragic loss suffered by the Odeh family.
The Israeli rights group B’tselem reported that the Odeh family’s car was extensively shot at, and Israeli forces subjected one of the injured surviving children to harsh interrogation. The group highlighted the lack of an effective accountability mechanism for those responsible for such incidents.
According to Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, Israeli soldiers facing allegations of harming Palestinians are seldom held accountable, with less than one percent of cases resulting in indictments out of 2,427 complaints filed between 2016 and 2024. The members of the Odeh family are the latest victims in the occupied West Bank, where previous incidents involving Israeli settlers and soldiers have resulted in the deaths of at least eight Palestinians since the onset of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Following the attack on Iran, Israeli authorities have imposed restrictions on movement in the West Bank, intermittently closing numerous gates and checkpoints, hindering the movement of residents, ambulances, and commercial traffic. Yesh Din reported documenting 109 cases of settler violence in the occupied West Bank across various Palestinian communities since the conflict began. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recorded 18 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2026, including eight by Israeli settlers.