Israeli forces kill Jewish woman as she attempts to attack soldiers near Hebron

An Israeli woman was shot dead by Israeli forces late Tuesday near the West Bank city of Hebron as she attempted to attack soldiers at a checkpoint.

The Israeli Defense Ministry initially said its soldiers killed the woman after she pulled out a gun and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” while approaching the checkpoint.

The ministry later ruled out an attack hypothesis after finding that her gun was an airsoft gun, which resembles a traditional firearm but shoots nonlethal plastic pellets.

Israeli army radio reported that the woman, a former Israeli soldier, was suffering from mental illness. At the time of the incident, she was wearing a burqa, an all-black long, loose garment covering the whole body from head to feet, to look like a Palestinian woman.

The Jerusalem Post daily reported that according to her conversation with her friend, she planned the incident and asked for a Jewish burial.

The incident comes as Israeli forces are on high alert due to developments with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip following a series of Israeli airstrikes that left 15 Palestinians dead, including women and children.

Palestinian factions in Gaza vowed to retaliate against the airstrikes, which killed three top military commanders from the Islamic Jihad movement.