Palestinian woman, 95, is shot dead by soldiers

Israeli soldiers shot dead a 95-year-old Palestinian woman yesterday. Fatima Hassan is believed to be the oldest person to be killed in the intifada, which began two years ago.

She was travelling in a taxi that was fired on by troops in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Rami Jawdat, the driver of the taxi, said he had stopped at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Ramallah, when an Israeli soldier approached his car and smashed one of the windows with his gun. He said the soldier then opened fire on the car from one metre away.

Mrs Hassan was killed, and a 41-year-old woman, Kifaya Ra'fat, was wounded. What provoked the soldier to open fire was not clear.

The Israeli army gave a very different version of events. A military source said the taxi was driving fast on a road where the army does not allow Palestinians to drive. He said soldiers fired warning shots, and, when the car did not stop, shot at its tyres.

Mrs Hassan was in Ramallah buying presents for her 19 grandchildren for the Eid al-Fitr festival, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, in a few days' time, her son said.