A young Palestinian Authority (PA) Arab girl was found wandering alone in the Jewish town of Yitzhar in Samaria on Thursday evening. The child found shelter with a Jewish woman whose husband is accused by Israel's civil administration in Samaria of posing a danger to Arabs.
For Naomi Ofan of Yitzhar, the story began when she heard a knock at the door. Naomi, who recently gave birth to her seventh child, was alone with her children. Her husband, Nerya, has been forbidden to enter Samaria by an administrative order, allegedly due to concern that he could harm local Arabs. Administrative orders of this type have been used at the discretion of the civil administration in Judea and Samaria for preventive purposes, without need to prove any actions on the part of the person involved.
Naomi opened the door and found a young girl standing alone. She invited the child in, gave her water, and attempted to figure out where her parents were.
"She looked around five years old. Her clothes were a bit strange,” Ofan recalled. “I gave her water and candy, she ate happily and didn't say a word. I asked her in Arabic, 'What is your name?' and she said 'Manara.'”
Noami called the head of security in Yitzhar, who contacted the IDF body that oversees coordination with the PA. “I was afraid that the Israeli police would find a way to charge me with kidnapping,” she said.
The girl was discovered to be from the Arab village of Inbus. Security officials estimated that it took the child an hour to walk to Yitzhar, which is on top of a large hill.
Local security teams are now keeping a close watch on the area, in case the child was sent into Yitzhar by terrorists to test security.