- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
Orphaned Palestinians mourn unarmed mother shot by Israeli soldier
When Ghada Sabatien set out to visit her uncle in a village near Bethlehem, she was not expecting to be caught up in the spike in violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
But the unarmed 45-year-old, who was partially sighted and understood little Hebrew, bled to death in the street after "mistakenly" being shot by an Israeli soldier.
She leaves behind six orphans.
The West Bank village of Husan is usually a quiet backwater, despite being close to a major crossing into Israel.
The shops have signs in both Arabic and Hebrew, and even Israeli settlers regularly stop there to buy groceries, with few tensions.
At the entrance to the village, Israeli soldiers sit guard on a concrete island that serves as a checkpoint.
On April 10, Ghada set out to visit her uncle, wearing a hijab and long gown.
On the way back, the walk took her past the makeshift checkpoint.
As she approached, a soldier fired warning shots and shouted.
Ghada has "eye problems", her family said, adding that she did not speak Hebrew as she had spent years abroad.
In footage caught by a Palestinian TV crew that happened to be filming nearby, she appeared to panic.
But she kept walking. The soldier opened fire at her legs, and she fell to the floor.
It took several minutes for an ambulance to arrive. By the time she reached a hospital in the nearby town of Beit Jala, she had lost catastrophic amounts of blood.
She died in the hospital.
-'She cannot be replaced'-
Ghada was not wearing an explosive vest or carrying any kind of weapon.
Her family have been in shock and anger ever since she was killed.
"My sister went there and asked a soldier in Hebrew: 'Did she do anything wrong?'," Ghada's mother Houria Sabatien, 69, told AFP.
"He answered: 'No'. 'So why did you shoot at her?' she asked. The soldier said: 'Sorry'."
Around her sat her grandchildren, four of Ghada's orphans: Omar, Jamila, Mohammed and Moustafa, their eyes glued to the floor.
"They've become orphans. And me, I'm old, I'm afraid for them when they go out, I'm afraid for them because of the army," Houria said.
"I would like to feed them and show them life. But I'm afraid for their future."
Moustafa, 15, is struggling to comprehend the tragedy.
"When I lost my mother, it was as if life no longer had any meaning. She was the one who woke us up in the morning, she was the one who welcomed us back from school, she was the one who took care of us," he said.
"She was everything, she cannot be replaced."
He reminisced about Ghada's delicious maqloubeh, a Palestinian dish of rice and meat, and how she would help with his mathematics homework.
"She made me understand straight away," he said.
-'Mistake'-
Born into a family of scientists, Ghada Sabatien graduated with a degree in mathematics at Bethlehem University and spent 15 years in Jordan, where she was a teacher.
After her husband died four years ago, Ghada returned to Husan with the children.
She prepared meals, helped with homework, read the Koran, visited extended family members, and occasionally gave private lessons.
"She was an independent, peaceful, educated woman who was not interested in politics at all," says Rafat, her brother.
He said he had received an apology from the Israeli army for their "mistake".
AFP approached the army for comment on Ghada's killing.
It said she had run "suspiciously" towards the checkpoint and that soldiers had fired at her legs.
"The suspect received initial medical treatment by IDF soldiers at the scene," it said.
"The circumstances of the case are being reviewed."
The tragedy sparked anger, both among Palestinians and overseas.
In a rare move, Washington's envoy to the Palestinians, George Noll, called the family to express his condolences.
The Husan area saw a spike in night-time protests. One young man, Qusay Hamamra, was killed by Israeli forces after throwing a Molotov cocktail at them.
But Houria said she would teach Ghada's children a different path.
"If we want to fight against Israel, we must do it through education, culture (...) we cannot stay in hatred," she said.
"If I love Ghada, I must teach this to her children."
H.Silva--PC