State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday called for accountability following the death of a 16-year-old Palestinian Arab girl during Sunday night’s clashes in Jenin.
In response to a question from a reporter, Price said, “We do express our profound condolences to the family of Jana Zakarneh, the young teenage girl who was killed. This – it is a tragic incident. It’s a heartbreaking incident any time you hear of a civilian being killed in these types of operations.”
“We understand the IDF is undertaking an investigation into what happened. We hope to see accountability in this case. I did note that outgoing Prime Minister Lapid did offer his condolences to the family of Jana Zakarneh, and we note that that her tragic death comes in the context of the escalating violence in the West Bank that we’ve noted and lamented for some time now,” he added.
“It is this alarming increase in Palestinian and Israeli deaths and injuries, including injuries to numerous children and now the death of a young Palestinian teenager – we reiterate the need for all parties to take steps to de-escalate the situation. It’s vital that the parties themselves take urgent action to prevent even greater loss of life,” said Price.
Sunday night’s incident occurred during an operation of Israeli security forces in Jenin as part of Operation "Break the Wave."
The security forces apprehended 18 wanted individuals, among them three wanted individuals suspected of terrorist activity in Jenin. During the activity, suspects hurled explosives and fired heavily at the soldiers. The suspects also hurled firebombs at the forces from various areas, including roofs of houses. The soldiers responded with live fire toward the armed suspects identified in the area.
The IDF said on Monday that an initial inquiry into Sunday night’s incident found 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. It appears the girl who was killed had been on the roof of one of the houses near the gunmen.”
“The claim that security forces purposefully fired at uninvolved civilians is implausible and without foundation. The security forces will continue to investigate the incident and work to clarify its circumstances,” the statement added.
“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 security forces will continue to conduct counterterrorism activities wherever necessary while making efforts to avoid harm to uninvolved civilians,” it concluded.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed his condolences over the death of the 16-year-old teen. Lapid stressed 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 civilian casualties - even in the most complex circumstances.