[From article]
A Palestinian assailant broke into a home in a West Bank settlement early Thursday and stabbed a 13-year-old Jewish girl to death as she slept in bed, the latest in a nine-month wave of violence that had recently shown signs of tapering off.
The attacker, identified as a 17-year-old high school dropout, was fatally shot by security guards.
The Israeli military sealed off the entrances to a nearby village, the home of the attacker, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on both the Palestinian leadership and the international community to condemn the brutal assault.
“The horrifying murder of a young girl in her bed underscores the bloodlust and inhumanity of the incitement-driven terrorists that we are facing,” Netanyahu said after an emergency meeting with his defense minister. “The entire nation deeply identifies with the family’s pain and declares to the murderers: You will not break us.”I
The hospital identified the slain girl as Hallel Yaffa Ariel. She was a cousin of Uri Ariel, a Cabinet minister from the Jewish Home, a party affiliated with the West Bank settler movement. The minister later said Israel would make “every effort” to build up settlements in the West Bank.
The assaults were once near-daily occurrences, but have become less frequent in recent months, though they have not stopped altogether. On June 8, a pair of Palestinian gunmen killed four Israeli civilians in a popular Tel Aviv tourist district.
Israeli officials say the violence is the result of anti-Israeli incitement by Palestinian leaders and in Palestinian social media. Palestinian officials say the violence is the result of despair and hopelessness after two decades of failed peace efforts, and the lack of hope for gaining independence after nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation.
Israeli security forces have had a difficult time stopping the attackers, in large part because they have tended to be young “lone wolf” assailants, often in their teens or early 20s, acting on their own and not sent by organized militant groups.
[. . .]
Mohammed had dropped out of school and was working in a bakery. He said the family was surprised by Mohammed’s attack and speculated that the teen may have been spurred to action after the death of a cousin who was killed while attempting to ram Israelis in Kiryat Arba.
[. . .]
Residents of Kiryat Arba said Tarayreh had climbed over a fence surrounding the settlement and entered the community undetected. It was not immediately clear how he entered the home.
The military said private Israeli security guards at the settlement had fired at Tarayreh as he tried to flee the attack scene. One guard was stabbed before the assailant was killed, the army said.
[. . .]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not comment on the attack. He has spoken out against violence in the past, though Israeli officials say his apologies have been half-hearted and at times he has made comments amounting to incitement.
Abbas faced criticism earlier this month after he repeated an unsubstantiated claim of a plot by Israeli rabbis to call on Jews to poison Palestinian wells. He later disavowed his comments.
The attacker, identified as a 17-year-old high school dropout, was fatally shot by security guards.
The Israeli military sealed off the entrances to a nearby village, the home of the attacker, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on both the Palestinian leadership and the international community to condemn the brutal assault.
“The horrifying murder of a young girl in her bed underscores the bloodlust and inhumanity of the incitement-driven terrorists that we are facing,” Netanyahu said after an emergency meeting with his defense minister. “The entire nation deeply identifies with the family’s pain and declares to the murderers: You will not break us.”I
The hospital identified the slain girl as Hallel Yaffa Ariel. She was a cousin of Uri Ariel, a Cabinet minister from the Jewish Home, a party affiliated with the West Bank settler movement. The minister later said Israel would make “every effort” to build up settlements in the West Bank.
The assaults were once near-daily occurrences, but have become less frequent in recent months, though they have not stopped altogether. On June 8, a pair of Palestinian gunmen killed four Israeli civilians in a popular Tel Aviv tourist district.
Israeli officials say the violence is the result of anti-Israeli incitement by Palestinian leaders and in Palestinian social media. Palestinian officials say the violence is the result of despair and hopelessness after two decades of failed peace efforts, and the lack of hope for gaining independence after nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation.
Israeli security forces have had a difficult time stopping the attackers, in large part because they have tended to be young “lone wolf” assailants, often in their teens or early 20s, acting on their own and not sent by organized militant groups.
[. . .]
Mohammed had dropped out of school and was working in a bakery. He said the family was surprised by Mohammed’s attack and speculated that the teen may have been spurred to action after the death of a cousin who was killed while attempting to ram Israelis in Kiryat Arba.
[. . .]
Residents of Kiryat Arba said Tarayreh had climbed over a fence surrounding the settlement and entered the community undetected. It was not immediately clear how he entered the home.
The military said private Israeli security guards at the settlement had fired at Tarayreh as he tried to flee the attack scene. One guard was stabbed before the assailant was killed, the army said.
[. . .]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not comment on the attack. He has spoken out against violence in the past, though Israeli officials say his apologies have been half-hearted and at times he has made comments amounting to incitement.
Abbas faced criticism earlier this month after he repeated an unsubstantiated claim of a plot by Israeli rabbis to call on Jews to poison Palestinian wells. He later disavowed his comments.
http://nypost.com/2016/06/30/palestinian-man-fatally-stabs-jewish-teen-in-her-sleep/
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[From article]
The girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, was attacked after an assailant climbed a security fence and entered a home in the settlement of the settlement, near Hebron.
"We have now confirmed that she is a US citizen," State Department spokesman John Kirby said at a news briefing.
Israeli teenager murdered in West Bank a US citizen
By REUTERS
JPOST.COM STAFF \
06/30/2016 21:51
06/30/2016 21:51
