Gaza: Palestinians near the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank held a funeral procession on Wednesday for a 16-year-old girl killed by Israeli forces. The girl, identified as Lujain Osama Musleh, was killed in the town of Kafr Dan, just outside Jenin, where Israeli troops have been operating for days. The military gave no immediate details of the incident but said it was looking into the report.
The girl's father, Osama Musleh, wept as funeral prayers were said over his daughter's body. He said the teenager looked out the window at the sound of gunfire and he found her with a gunshot wound to the forehead. "I tried to save her, I tried to do something but I couldn't," he said.
VIDEO: Father buries her daughter Palestinian girl killed by Israeli army
"When the army raided the town, the army was surrounding the town, they were surrounding a house next to our house. The girl opened the curtain to look from the window like all the neighbours, and we heard a sound, I went to check the girl, and I found that she was shot in her forehead," said the grieving father.
"The soldiers are surrounding the town, I tried to save her, I tried to do something (but) I couldn't. The army was surrounding our area, I called for an ambulance they arrived late because a snipper shot toward them," he added.
Israel's attack on Gaza
Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters and drones have been operating in Jenin and Tulkarm as well as other areas of the West Bank for the past week in a drive the military says is aimed at combatting Iranian-backed militant groups.
The operation has caused severe damage to infrastructure as armoured bulldozers have torn up large stretches of city streets, in what the army says is a search for roadside bombs, and destroyed or severely damaged houses and other buildings. As it has gone on, aid workers have begun to warn that people in the area are starting to run low on food and water.
(With inputs from agency)
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