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Photo:
Screenshot of video of scene. Published by Maan News
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RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian teenage girl at the entrance to the village of Silwad, east of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank on Tuesday afternoon.

The circumstances behind the shooting remained unclear, but unconfirmed reports said that the girl was shot because she was throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.

Locals, who identified the girl as 17-year-old Tuqua Hammad, told Ma'an that she was hit in the lower extremities and that Israeli troops prevented a Palestinian ambulance from accessing the victim to treat her.

Israeli forces provided first aid treatment to Tuqua and evacuated her to Israel's Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, locals said.

Four hours after the incident, the Israeli army had still not responded to multiple requests for comment on the shooting -- unusual as Israeli authorities are usually quick to defend use of force on Palestinians by issuing statements accusing alleged assailants of "hurling stones at Israeli security forces," "instigating violent riots," or of attempting to attack soldiers who then "responded to the imminent threat" by opening fire.

Ma'an was also unable to reach a spokesperson for Hadassah hospital for comment on Tuqua's condition.

According to local sources, Tuqua is the sister of 21-year-old Anas Hammad, who was shot dead in December 2015 after he committed an alleged vehicular attack on Israeli soldiers near the illegal Ofra settlement, which is adjacent to Silwad where the Hammad family resides.

Footage taken at the scene after the shooting was later circulated on social media.