Palestinians call for international intervention following death of girl (16) during Israeli raid of West Bank

The Palestinian leadership has demanded international intervention after a 16-year-old Palestinian girl was killed during an Israeli military raid to arrest wanted militants in the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin.

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee secretary general Hussein al-Sheikh has described the death of Jana Zakarna on Monday as an execution.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh urged the United Nations to place Israel on its blacklist of countries that mistreat children in armed conflict following Ms Zakarna’s killing.

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.

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According to the military, troops opened fire after gunmen threw Molotov cocktails and opened fire at the soldiers. The army said its commanders “regret any harm to uninvolved civilians,” but said that it would press ahead with its operations.

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.

Salah al-Zayed, a cousin and neighbour, said Ms Zakarna had gone onto the roof to search for her cat. He said the family heard gunshots but did not know she was up there, and only found her body about an hour later after the army withdrew.

“They killed her in cold blood,” he said. “We want justice. She had the right to live like any other child and to be happy, not to be killed in cold blood.”

The PLO’s secretary general in Jenin, Atta Abu Ramila, called on the international community to “hold Israel accountable for its crimes”.

In a rare turn of events, the unit the soldiers belonged to- the border police – questioned the army’s initial findings, describing them as “mistaken”.

Border police officials said a more in-depth inquiry is needed, including a ballistic study of the lethal bullet.

Furthermore, the highly-trained sniper who fired nine bullets towards the roof insists he identified an armed militant and no girl had been on the roof that he fired at.

Spokesperson for the US state department Ned Price expressed “profound condolences” on Tuesday for the killing, and said the Biden administration “understands that the IDF is undertaking an investigation into what happened,” and “hopes to see accountability in this case.”

The Israeli army has been carrying out near-nightly raids in the West Bank as part of an operation against militants which began in March after a wave of attacks in Israel by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs left 17 Israelis and two Ukrainians dead.

More than 165 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, the highest number since 2015.