Sniper rifle (illustration)
Sniper rifle (illustration)Flash 90

Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed his condolences over the death of the 16-year-old teen during an operation to arrest terror suspects in Jenin and sent his condolences to her family. It appears the girl was accidentally shot by undercover agents.

A senior IDF officer said that an internal IDF investigation revealed that an Israeli soldier may have accidentally killed 16-year-old Jana Zakharn during a firefight in Jenin yesterday (Sunday).

Lapid emphasized that the published investigation is only preliminary, and that security forces continue to investigate the case in order to clarify the circumstances of the incident.

He said that the State of Israel will continue to thwart terrorism and capture terrorists wherever necessary, but that IDF soldiers and security forces will always take the utmost precaution to prevent civilians casualties - even in the most complex circumstances.

The officer responsible for the investigation noted that the Border Police officer who allegedly fired the shot which killed Zakharn is an outstanding and decorated sniper who probably misidentified and accidentally struck her while she was standing next to an armed terrorist on a rooftop.

"The force was fired upon about a minute after they exited the vehicle while undercover, and so the other forces had to come to rescue them. The rescue lasted about an hour according to plan and included the positioning of two of our sniper squads on two buildings. With the joining of the forces, there was a lot of firing on the force," he was quoted as saying.

"A decorated and experienced Border Police sniper spotted two figures on a rooftop. one of whom was armed and opened fire. He shot at one of the figures when she tried to run away. We estimate that she was standing next to one of the armed men, she may have been observed and mistakenly identified as a gunman. Unfortunately, she was killed."

"The IDF and its commanders regret any harm to non-involved people, even those who are in a combat environment and in the exchange of fire near the armed terrorists. The security forces will continue to act to thwart terrorism wherever necessary while making an effort to avoid harming those who are not involved," the IDF said in a statement.

The IDF added: “The claim that security forces shot at uninvolved people on purpose is unfounded and baseless,"

It is not clear why the young woman was on the rooftop and that is being investigated.