Grandmother, 80, ‘fell to her knees’ after IDF shot her six times during raid, says son
As we stare at a bullet-ridden wall, two young Palestinian boys stand behind us on a stoop and look on in fearful awe.
“It’s the military,” one boy in a beige hoodie tells his friend. His friend stares at the wall with wide eyes and gives a little nod.
Balata camp in Nablus, the commercial centre of the West Bank, has just come out of a two-day Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid when we go to visit.
Mounds of dug-up dirt line the tarmac of the main road through the market. Shop owners sullenly stare at the reminders of the violent exchange of gunfire that shook their neighbourhood hours earlier. On the wall are decorated portraits of killed armed militants from various factions in the area.
A pile of shattered glass marks where 80-year-old Halima Abu Leil was shot dead. Her son says she “fell to her knees” after Israeli forces fired at her six times when she went to buy groceries on Thursday morning.
The IDF says it is aware of the reports that “during the exchanges of fire with the terrorists, uninvolved civilians present in the area were harmed”.
“My mum was elderly and had cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure. They could see she was an old woman – why would they fire at her?” asks Halima’s son.
He’s happy to be filmed but won’t share his first name – not a sign of irrational paranoia but a need for safety in a climate of increasing IDF raids and surveillance. A name translates into an ID number that can be tracked down.
Halima’s son is happy to be filmed but won’t share his first name
He takes his six-year-old son to the local mosque for Friday prayer. We film men of all ages pouring into the foyer but are not permitted to film the sermon that follows. The building tension is felt in every corner of the camp – even in the rooms reserved for God.
“No one is with the Palestinians but God,” he told us at his mother’s funeral 20 minutes earlier.
“Every single Palestinian is targeted, no one is exempt. Not children, not the elderly, no one.”
One of Halima’s daughters mourning the loss
Sibling not new to sudden loss
He sits next to his sister who is not new to sudden loss. She says her two sons are gone – one was killed last year and the other is in prison.
“What law is this? Children and pregnant women are killed. Our sons leave the house and don’t come back,” says Halima’s daughter.
“They can see she’s an elderly lady but they shot her six times – in her legs, in her chest. When she was first shot in her legs, she knelt on the ground,” she adds.
IDF statement
We approached the IDF about Halima’s death. This was their response:
“Early on Thursday, the IDF conducted a counterterrorism activity to apprehend an individual suspected of terror activity in the area of Balata in Nablus. During the activity, the IDF soldiers engaged in exchanges of fire with terrorists who opened fire and hurled explosives toward IDF soldiers. Hits were identified. In addition, IDF soldiers encircled a structure in which terrorists barricaded themselves. No IDF injuries were reported.”
The IDF say this footage shows armed terrorists in the vicinity of Israeli soldiers. Pic: IDF
Read more from Sky News:
Israel denies PM heading to Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks
Over 45,000 killed in Gaza since start of war, say officials
In Balata camp there are no dominant armed factions but a medley of affiliated fighters.
“When they see oppression like this – they want to fight,” says Halima’s daughter. Her sons were loyal to the armed resistance growing in their neighbourhood.
Nablus in the West Bank
As men pour out of the mosque into the street where Halima was killed, I ask an older man where the fighters are today.
“We don’t see them anymore,” he says in a hushed tone. “They are in hiding because of the increased raids.”
“These are just young men with guns – meagre protection in the face of Israeli military hardware. What’s an M16 to a tank?”
As diplomats scramble to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, peace feels more elusive than ever in the West Bank.
World
Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Read more: What’s a bear market?
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Do Trump’s tariffs add up?
Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
World
Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem
South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.
His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Read more from Sky News:
Highs and lows of Five-Year Keir
MP tells Sky News she was targeted online by Tate brothers
The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway