FG wants inquiry into shooting of Irish woman in Jenin

Fine Gael's spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, has said the Government should instruct the Irish Ambassador to Israel…

Fine Gael's spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, has said the Government should instruct the Irish Ambassador to Israel to seek an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting of an Irish observer in the West Bank yesterday.

Ms Caoimhe Butterly (23), was shot in the thigh by Israeli troops in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin and is being treated in hospital.

She said she was wounded while serving as a human shield trying to protect children.

Ms Butterly has spent time in the Palestinian territories since Israel briefly reoccuppied the area earlier this year. She works to provide protection to Palestinians as an international presence.

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A spokeswoman for the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) said the two were shot by Israeli forces.

Speaking from her hospital bed Ms Butterly told ireland.com: "The army was firing live rounds. One solider lifted the hatch of his tank, looked straight at us and opened fire."