'Not even cats can survive': Outrage after Israeli gunfire kills cat during West Bank raid

A bullet fired by Israeli forces has killed a cat during a raid in the occupied West Bank, local sources said on Thursday.

Images and videos of the deceased cat were posted on the Instagram page of the prominent Eye on Palestine account, which highlights Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians to its 3.3 million followers.

The New Arab is unable to show the images due to their graphic content.

"A cat was shot [by] an Israeli bullet during the raid on Ya'bud area inside the occupied West Bank," the caption said, adding that eyewitnesses confirmed that there was "arbitrary shooting with live ammunition on Palestinian civilians in the area, leading to the killing of the cat that was trying to escape".

The incident was confirmed by the Palestinian news agency Quds News Network.

The image, which garnered thousands of comments within hours, sparked outrage across social media platforms.

"Not even the cats have the right to live freely in Palestine," @Aljarmaqnetnews said on Twitter.

"Even animal they killed too," @mang.eja88 said on Instagram.

"Ruthless, no shame I swear," @sabilicioussab said on Instagram.

Thursday's raid, which lasted for more than six hours, also resulted in the killing of a 20-year-old Palestinian man.

Israeli forces have escalated their deadly raids on Palestinian towns and cities in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, killing at least 160 Palestinians so far, including children.

Amnesty International had slammed the raids as "unlawful", saying Israel showed "a shocking disregard for human life".