Hospital: Israeli girl, 13, dies after Palestinian stabbing

A 13-year-old Israeli girl was murdered in the West Bank by a Palestinian on Thursday morning.

A Palestinian attacker fatally stabbed a 13-year-old girl in her home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday before being shot dead by security guards, the Israeli army said.

“The horrific murder of an innocent girl in her bed sheds light on the bloodlust and lack of humanity displayed by the terrorists we are facing”, he said.

The slain teen, who held dual citizenship in Israel and the United States, was mourned by officials in both nations after the vile killing.

Israeli guards in the settlement of Kiryat Arba shot the attacker dead and one member of the civilian armed response team was wounded, a military spokesman and a settler leader said.

Palestinian officials named the assailant as Mohammad Tra’ayra, 19, from the nearby village of Bani Na’im.

Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a leading cause of the violence. After the attack, Ariel said Israel would make “every effort” to expand its settlements in the West Bank.

“Kiryat Arba is ours and it’s still a place you can live in”, she added.

Since October, 33 Israelis and two USA tourists have been killed in the latest bout of Palestinian-Israeli violence. The assaults were once near daily occurrences but have become less frequent in recent weeks.

Reached by The Media Line, Miriam, convulsed by tears, said only “she was an wonderful, awesome girl”.

“At the first moment I thought everything was well, but I knew deep in my heart she was not alive”, said Amichai Ariel, 59.

He also posted photos of a Palestinian woman who rammed an Israeli auto in a suspected attack near Kiryat Arba on June 24, calling her a “woman of valor”, The Times of Israel reported.

The man, reportedly in his 40s, and the woman, reportedly in her 60s, were moderately to severely injured in the Thursday afternoon attack near the city’s market, according to Israeli reports citing Magen David Adom, which treated the injured. “The most important step that the global community can take right now is to suspend funding of the PA until it proves it is committed to peace, not murder”.

Bani Naim has been sealed off, and authorities are beginning procedures for Tarayra’s home to be demolished. Her condition was very serious.

Palestinian political science lecturer Ahmad Jamil Azem at Birzeit University said the past months of violence have persisted because young Palestinians have felt exasperated by Israel’s ongoing military occupation and a weak Palestinian leadership.