Teenager Murdered in Kiryat Arba Stabbing Attack

A Palestinian fatally stabbed a 13-year-old girl, Hallel Yaffah Ariel, Hy”d, inside her home in a terror attack in Kiryat Arba on Thursday morning.

A member of the response team that killed the terrorist was also wounded in the incident, said an official from Kiryat Arba.

According to rescue officials, the terrorist entered the town by climbing over a fence. Arriving at a house outside the town’s yeshivah high school, the terrorist entered the house and stabbed the girl. The terrorist was shot and killed as he attempted to run away after attacking the girl.

The two victims were rushed to Yerushalayim hospitals for immediate medical care. The girl was taken to Shaare Zedek, where she was treated immediately. The doctors struggled to stabilize her condition, but unfortunately she passed away from her wounds.

The other victim, a 31-year-old Israeli civilian security officer, was taken to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital and is listed in serious condition.

The terrorist has been identified as Muhammad Tararia, a 17-year-old resident of the Arab village of Bani Naim.

Following the attack, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in a statement, called on Palestinian leaders to condemn the attack and take immediate steps to stop what he described as incitement that Israel has cited as a main factor behind a string of assaults over the last nine months.

“The horrific murder of an innocent girl in her bed sheds light on the bloodlust and lack of humanity displayed by the terrorists we are facing,” he said.

Netanyahu said that the home of the terrorist would be destroyed and permits enabling his relatives to work in Israel revoked.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department condemned “in the strongest terms the outrageous terrorist attack,” calling the stabbing “unconscionable.”

Yochai Damri, regional council head for Jewish communities in the Chevron area, called on the government to take tougher action and boost Israeli military presence in the Chevron Hills region.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz urged that the family of the Palestinian terrorist be expelled immediately to either Syria or Gaza in an attempt to deter terror. Until now, Israel’s policy has been destroying the family homes of the terrorists.

“Only the expulsion of families of terrorists can be used as a deterrent against acts of murder, which are incited by young people educated to hate and kill Jews,” said Katz.