Israeli Police Say 13-Year-Old Girl Shot Dead After Attempted Stabbing

Israel’s prime minister says his government is committed to West Bank settlements and will seek to expedite the legal process for settlers to return to two contested buildings in Hebron. Local resident Shada Haddad, 25, said that clashes broke out between Palestinian youth and Israeli troops when the home owners were blocked by the settlers from entering their buildings.

“We will begin the examination today and we will do it quickly. If it doesn’t come to an end within a week, I will make sure that a status report will be submitted to the cabinet”, said Netanyahu.

On Friday, many in the Bayit Yehudi party condemned Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s decision to evict the 20 families from the two Hebron buildings, and some party MKs, along with a few Likud MKs, even threatened walking out of the coalition.

“The government supports settlement at any time, especially now when it is under terrorist assault and is taking a courageous and determined stand in the face of terrorist attacks”, Netanyahu said.

“The State of Israel is a nation of laws, and I have no intention of compromising when the law is broken”, he said in a statement, adding that in this particular case “the law was brazenly broken”.

The girl, Ruqayya Abu Eid, ran at the guard at the entrance to the Anatot settlement, prompting him to open fire, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Israel’s announcement of it’s largest agricultural land seizure since 2014 has drawn harsh criticism from Palestinian and Western authorities.

Several Israeli soldiers sustained injuries in Saturday’s purported stabbing attack.

The restrictions have enraged Palestinians, who are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers frequently storming the al-Aqsa Mosque. A long procession marked commemorations with Palestinian security forces carrying her body as mourners waved national and Fatah party flags behind them. He met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry there but it was not clear if the issue was raised.

A poll conducted by Israel Channel 2 found that 68 percent of Israelis are unhappy with the prime minister’s way of dealing with the Palestinian attacks.

About 850 Israeli settlers in Hebron live in heavily-guarded enclaves, surrounded by tens of thousands of Palestinians.

A total of 156 Palestinians and 24 Israelis have been killed in three months of attacks since October 1, according to an AFP count.

But her mother, Reeda Abu Eid, said there had been no trouble before her daughter left the family home, a tent in the Palestinian village Anata.