Palestinian boys 'stripped and beaten' by Israeli soldiers after their parents, siblings killed in West Bank

A Palestinian boy who survived an Israeli shooting that killed his parents and two siblings in the occupied West Bank said an Israeli soldier beat him and told him "we killed some dogs" after opening fire on the family’s car, according to testimony reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Ali Khaled Bani Odeh, 37, his wife Waad Othman Bani Odeh, 35, and two of their children, Othman, 7, who was blind, and Mohammed, 5, were killed late Saturday in the town of Tammun in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said.

Two other children, Mustafa, 8, and Khaled, 11, survived with shrapnel wounds.

The Israeli military and police claimed forces opened fire after a vehicle accelerated toward them during an operation targeting suspects involved in "terrorist activity", adding that the incident is "under investigation".

However, Khaled, the eldest surviving child, said the family had been travelling together when Israeli forces shot at their vehicle.

"They were six in the car when they opened fire," Khaled said, according to Haaretz. He said two of his brothers were killed immediately, while his parents died shortly afterwards.

The boy also alleged that after the shooting an Israeli soldier removed him from the vehicle and assaulted him.

"He said, 'We killed some dogs,' removed me from the vehicle and beat me," Khaled said, according to Haaretz.

 Khaled said he was dragged by his hair out of the car and repeatedly "jumped on" by the soldier . They were then taken to a jeep, where he and his brother were stripped and interrogated.

"They asked me, 'who was with you in the car?' When I said, 'my mother, father and brothers,' he started yelling at me, calling me 'liar, liar.'"

He then claims the Israeli soldiers forced him and his brother to sit on the ground while waiting for an ambulance. 

"They tried to beat [my brother] Mustafa, but I stood in front of them, so they beat me instead." Khaled claims he was struck several times with "metal bars".

Local residents told Haaretz that Israeli forces entered Tammun in a vehicle carrying Palestinian licence plates before reinforcements arrived from nearby checkpoints.

Relatives of the family disputed the Israeli account that the car accelerated toward soldiers.

"The army’s version that the father accelerated is completely absurd. A father with a mother and four children - who would accelerate?," a relative, Magdi Bani Odeh, told Haaretz. "Especially since it was a covert unit in a Palestinian-plated car. This is cold-blooded murder."

The Israeli Justice Ministry unit responsible for investigating police misconduct has opened a probe into the shooting, Haaretz reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the victims were shot in the head and that ambulances were initially delayed from reaching the scene.