Shot in ‘cold blood’: Killing of Palestinian grandmother sparks outcry

Relatives of Hala Khreis, who was with her grandson and waving a white flag, relive the moment of her ‘execution’.

Relatives of Hala Khreis, a Palestinian woman killed by an Israeli sniper in northern Gaza, say the soldier shot her deliberately and in “cold blood” even though she was holding the hand of her small grandson who was waving a white flag and was walking along an evacuation route which had been declared safe.

Khreis was at the front of a group of Palestinians who had been ordered to leave their homes by Israeli forces. They were told by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the route would be safe and that it had been “cleared” by the Israeli army.

But people among the group who fled said they were re-routed at the last moment by Israeli soldiers towards another road, rather than the one they were initially instructed to take.

Khreis and her small grandson, Taim, 5, were slightly ahead of the group and did not see the soldiers indicating that they should change course; they continued along the original route. In a matter of seconds, a soldier had opened fire on Khreis before she could turn back.

In a verified and widely circulated video, Khreis was seen holding her grandson’s hand. The small child was waving a white flag when the soldier opened fire.