JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Monday acknowledged that its troops fatally shot a teenage Palestinian girl during an operation in the West Bank, saying she was unintentionally hit by fire aimed at gunmen in the area.
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It was a rare admission of an error by the military, which has carried out daily arrest operations in the West Bank for nearly nine months. Israel’s prime minister expressed sorrow over the girl’s death, but said the operations in the area would continue.
Palestinian officials said Jana Zakaran, 16, was killed overnight Monday in the northern city of Jenin. According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, her family had been searching for her for an hour and found her body on the roof of their home after Israeli troops withdrew from the area.
In a statement, the Israeli military said an initial inquiry found the girl “was hit by unintentional fire aimed at armed gunmen” on a nearby rooftop. “It appears the girl who was killed had been on the roof of one of the houses near the gunmen,” it said.
It said the forces opened fire after local militants hurled firebombs and opened fire at the soldiers.
The army said that its commanders “regret any harm to uninvolved civilians,” but said that it would press ahead with its operations.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid issued a statement expressing sorrow over the girl’s death and sent condolences to her family. He also expressed support for Israel’s soldiers and said operations in the West Bank would continue while Israel would do its “utmost” to avoid civilian casualties.
Jenin is known as a stronghold of militants. The army has long operated in the area, stepping up its activities after a series of deadly attacks inside Israel last spring, some of which were carried out by militants from Jenin.
Zakaran was killed in the Jenin refugee camp, the same area where Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed last May.
The Israelis kill a terrorist by.mistake and apologize! The Palestinians rachmana litzlan kill innocent peope and celebrate!
The Arabs need to evacuate Jenin, Israel.
If you care about your life or about your kids’s lived, don’t hang out in areas of open fire! You don’t belong there when there is live ammo being shot! Is this some kind of intelligence test?
oh well! one less future terrorist to worry about
Why admit this? This “girl” was most likely spotting or throwing bricks and firearms. By being on a rooftop she put herself in tremendous danger unless she was also a terrorist.
why was she on the roof when gun shots were being fired?
the Zionists regret killing a terrorist supporter?