RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: A pregnant Palestinian woman died on Thursday in the occupied West Bank from shrapnel wounds sustained after an Iranian missile attack, bringing the death toll from the incident to four, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the first Palestinian deaths in the Middle East war have sharpened a sense of helplessness as they find themselves ensnared in the crossfire of yet another conflict.
Asil Samir Masalmeh, 32, who was six months pregnant, died after missile fragments tore through a hair salon in the town of Beit Awa, near the city of Hebron, late on Wednesday, the ministry said.
The four women killed in the incident were the first Palestinians to die in the ongoing Middle East war.
Palestinian authorities could not confirm if the shrapnel came from an Iranian missile or an Israeli interceptor used to shoot it down.
The Health Ministry said that a girl who was seriously injured in the blast was now in stable condition in the hospital.
The Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that the salon had been set up in a metal caravan next to a house.
Wafa said missile fragments landed in multiple West Bank locations.
The blast struck without warning in Beit Awa, sending a hail of missile fragments through the beauty salon.
“It fell without any warning. There was no alert,” the 60-year-old resident said.
He said metal shards tore through an area of some 200 square meters. The scene at the salon was horrific.
“The women who died, their bodies were torn apart,” Masalmeh said.
On Thursday morning, the coffins of the first three victims were carried out of a nearby hospital in Dura by members of the Palestinian security forces.
Draped in Palestinian flags they were loaded into ambulances to be taken to their final resting place.
“We are in a state of shock and incomprehension over why we are the ones paying the price for a situation we have nothing to do with,” said Fawzi Abu Leil, the mayor of Dura. “It was so sudden and unexpected — a tragedy and a massacre that no one can fathom.”
While in Israel there is a highly efficient system of alerts and a widespread network of shelters where residents seek refuge, those in the West Bank say they have little protection.
“The Israelis can avoid all of this because they have shelters,” said Abu Leil.
“In any conflict in the region, the Palestinian people are the victims because we have practically nowhere to shelter.”
Hours after the carnage, firefighters were still hosing away the blood from the mangled metal container that had housed the beauty salon.
Shrapnel scars pockmarked the walls.
Abdelrazek Masalmeh was coming to terms with the terrible scene of severed limbs he found after rushing there from his nearby home.
“It was a shock, a disaster,” the 32-year-old neuroscience researcher said.
Like others in the town, he was left angry and hopeless after death fell suddenly from the sky in a conflict far beyond their control.
“We are the victims. It’s not our war,” he said.
“They should leave us alone and do what they want to each other ... it should end.”
