Palestinian girl, 16, shot in the head during Israeli raid
A Palestinian girl aged 16 has been shot dead during a raid by Israeli soldiers on a town in the West Bank that has become a flashpoint for unrest over the past year.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) arrived in Jenin last night looking for three men accused of attacking civilians.
There was an exchange of fire, leading to heavy clashes with Palestinians inside the town. The IDF said explosive charges were also thrown at them.
When the fighting died down, Jana Zakaran’s family realised she was missing. They found her on the roof of the family home, shot through the head. Hospital authorities said she had four other bullet wounds on her body.
Her family said she had gone on the roof to watch but not take part in the action. “There was an exchange of gunfire about 50 metres away, and she didn’t think she would be hurt,” her uncle told an Israeli Arab-language radio station. “After a few minutes her father went up and found her there lying on the floor.”
The family denied that she had been photographing the incident. Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, said the IDF was investigating whether troops might have shot her after misidentifying her as a “spotter” for the fighters resisting the Israeli raid.
It cited unnamed IDF sources saying that early reports by troops accepted they had fired upwards at roofs but denied they had targeted anyone other than fighters.
“Suspects hurled explosives and fired heavily at the soldiers,” an official IDF statement said. “The soldiers responded with live fire towards the armed suspects.”
A separate statement by Israel’s border police said: “Following the arrests, violent riots broke out, including live fire and explosives from various ranges directed at our forces. The undercover officers, Border Police troops and Israel Defence Forces soldiers returned fire toward the terrorists.”
There has been an upsurge in violence in the West Bank this year. The IDF has made repeated raids on towns which it says have become hotbeds of Palestinian militancy responsible for attacks inside Israel and on settlers.
Jana’s death brings the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank this year to at least 148, the most since the end of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which lasted from 2000 to 2005. More than a fifth of those killed this year were under the age of 18, according to UN figures, though most of the dead are believed to be combatants. At least 31 Israelis have died in Palestinian attacks this year.
While Gaza has been calmer under a ceasefire deal agreed last year with the mediation of Egypt between Israel and Hamas, discontent in the West Bank has grown. The weakening leadership of President Abbas, 87, the internationally-recognised Palestinian leader who has not faced an election since 2005, has led to the growth in the West Bank of rival, more radical factions like Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Meanwhile, the collapse of any realistic long-term peace talks has led to a strengthening of pro-settler policies by the Israeli government.
The Israelis have been particularly concerned about the rise of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad faction in Jenin, which has a large Palestinian refugee camp alongside the main town. After a series of attacks which killed 19 people, the IDF started an operation known as “Wavebreaker” in the spring to root out militants. Three gunmen were killed in a battle with Israeli troops last Thursday in the town.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad confirmed its fighters had “resisted” last night’s raid. At least 18 Palestinians were arrested across the West Bank, including the three suspects in Jenin, who were handed over to Shin Bet, the internal intelligence service, for interrogation.
Fatah, Abbas’s ruling political faction, announced a day-long “strike” in Jenin in protest at Zana’s killing.
