Conflict

‘She was on terrace of her home looking for her cat’: Israeli sniper shoots Palestinian child in the head

Palestinians take part in funeral procession of 16-year-old Jana Majdi Zakarneh who was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin raid on December 11, 2022. [Photo: Twitter/ MuhammadSimry]

A 16-year-old Palestinian girl was fatally shot in cold blood by Israeli forces in a military raid into the eastern neighborhood of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday night.

International media quoting the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that Jana Majdi Zakarneh, 16, was killed after being shot directly in the head with a live bullet fired by Israeli forces.

The 11th-grade student, was shot and killed while on her house roof and found dead after the Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin, Quds News Network reported.

On Sunday night, at approximately 10: 00 pm, Israeli forces raided the eastern neighborhood of Jenin city where the warning sirens blared.

According to reports, Zakarneh was shot four times. Zakarneh’s uncle, speaking to AFP, said that his niece had gone to the roof of the building to get her cat.

“Following an initial inquiry, it was determined that the girl who was killed was hit by unintentional fire aimed at armed gunmen on a roof in the area from which the force was fired upon,” Israeli forces claim in a statement.

“The IDF and its commanders regret any harm to uninvolved civilians, including those who are in a combat environment and in close proximity to armed terrorists during exchanges of fire,” the statement claimed.

Earlier on Monday, a one-day general strike was observed in Jenin city in mourning for the teenager’s death.

Since January, as many as 217 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories, including 52 in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement last week.

October has seen the highest number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2022 so far, according to data compiled by Middle East Eye.

Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinians in the West Bank in October, making it the deadliest month of the year so far, the UN said last week.

At least five of those who died in October after being shot by Israeli forces were boys.

The youngest of them was 12-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Samoudi from Jenin who died in hospital on 10 October from Israeli gunshot wounds he sustained on 28 September during an army raid, Middle East Eye reported citing figures.

More than half of those killed in October were most likely unarmed when they were shot dead, according to Palestinian officials quoted by various news reports.

 

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