Israeli forces Wednesday morning shot and killed a Palestinian journalist at the entrance of Al-Arroub refugee camp, north of AlKhalil, in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Ministry said that Israeli soldiers opened live fire at Ghofran Warasnah, 31, fatally hitting her in the chest.

The Red Crescent said that the Israeli forces prevented medics from approaching Warasnah for approximately 20 minutes after she was shot.

The bullet grazed Warasnah’s ribs, passing through the flesh under her left armpit and exiting from her right side.

The victim was transferred to al-Ahli hospital in AlKhalil, but died shortly afterwards, despite efforts to resuscitate her.

Warasnah, a resident of the nearby village of al-Shuyukh, was a former prisoner. She had recently spent three months in Israeli prisons, and was released at the start of April 2022.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media from Hebron University and works as a journalist.

Local sources confirmed Ghufran was going out to her work at Dream Radio in AlKhalil at around 7:40 in the morning through the refugee camp's entrance, where Israeli forces are usually stationed. It was her first day of work.

Israeli media claimed that Warasneh was wielding a knife and tried to stab Israeli soldiers, without providing evidence. Her family and colleagues denied Israeli claims. An eye-witness from Al-Arroub camp told Palestinian media that Warasneh was shot while standing at around a two-metre distance from an Israeli soldier.

Ghufran Warasneh is the second Palestinian journalist killed by Israeli forces in less than a month, after the killing of Aljazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the Jenin refugee camp on May 11.

With Warasneh, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2022 rises to 56.