International

We hope to see accountability: US on killing of Palestinian child by Israeli forces

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

The United States has called for “accountability” after Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old Palestinian girl Jana Majdi Zakarneh, Zakarneh on Sunday evening.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a news conference on Monday, “We do express our profound condolences to the family of Jana Zakarna, the young teenage girl who was killed.”

“We understand the IDF is undertaking an investigation into what happened. We hope to see accountability in this case,” he added.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that Zakarneh was killed after being shot by Israeli forces during a military raid on Sunday night into Jenin’s the Al-Bayader neighborhood.

As per international media reports, Jana was shot and killed while on her house roof and found dead after the Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin.

The 11th-grade girl was searching for her cat on the roof, family sources told local and international media.

Zakarneh’s uncle, speaking to AFP, said that his niece had gone to the roof of the building to get her cat.

“She wasn’t carrying a weapon or throwing stones, she had nothing and was shot with four bullets in deadly spots: in the head, the face and twice in the chest. They have truly killed childhood,” he said.

Noting the recent “alarming increase in Palestinian and Israeli deaths and injuries,” Price reiterated the need for “all parties to take steps to de-escalate the situation”.

According to Quds News Network, the 11th-grade girl is the 53rd Palestinian child killed in 2022 by Israeli forces.

Since January, as many as 217 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories, including 52 in the Gaza Strip, the 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.

 

Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.

Click to comment
To Top