In the few moments of silence after the shootings, before he was dragged from the family car, 12-year-old Khaled Bani Odeh thought he was the only member of his family left alive.
Seconds before, his parents and two youngest brothers had been shot dead through the windscreen by Israeli forces, as they drove home after a family shopping trip in the occupied West Bank.
Among the dead was six-year-old Othman - blind and disabled - killed while sitting on his mother's lap.
My mother cried out one last time before going quiet, Khaled said. My father recited the Shahada [the Islamic declaration of faith] as he died.
When Israeli forces tried to drag his only surviving brother, Mustafa, from the car, Khaled said he tried to intervene.
They pulled me out instead and began jumping on my back, he said. Then they took me to a corner and questioned me about who had been in the car. I told them it was my mother and father. They accused me of lying and started beating me.
The family was minutes from home when they were killed in Tammun, near Tubas, just after midnight on Saturday. Relatives say Ali had just returned home after six weeks of working in Israel, and the boys had begged him to take them shopping ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The incident has sparked outrage, as the Israeli army reported its soldiers and Border Police were operating in Tammun to arrest people suspected of terrorist activity. They claimed the Bani Odeh family's car had accelerated towards the forces, who sensed danger and responded by shooting. However, witnesses contend the car had come to a complete halt before any shots were fired.
The use of lethal force against a civilian car carrying four young children raises critical questions about the rules of engagement and the nature of threats perceived by Israeli soldiers reacting in the West Bank. This tragic event adds to the increasing pattern of violence against Palestinians, with reports indicating a significant rise in fatalities amidst ongoing conflict in the region.
