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Israel closes off West Bank village after fatal stabbing

Xinhua, June 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel closed off a West Bank village after one of its residents stabbed and killed a Jewish girl in her settlement home on Thursday, the authorities said.

The move came after a Palestinian youth, identified as 17-year-old Mahmoud Traira from the village of Bani Naim, east of Hebron, broke into a house around Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement bloc near Hebron, and killed 13-year-old Hillel Yafa Ariel in her bed.

Work permits of all Mahmoud Traira's family members will be revoked and procedures to demolish his home have begun, according to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

In the statement, Netanyahu called on the international community "to condemn this murder just as it condemned the terrorist attacks in Orlando and Brussels," vowing to "continue to take strong and determined action against terrorism everywhere and at all times."

The incident was the latest in a wave of violence since mid-September 2015, which has killed 211 Palestinians, 33 Israelis, two U.S. nationals, an Eritrean refugee, and a Sudanese refugee.

Some of the Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli security forces during protests, while others were gunned down for allegedly carrying out, or trying to carry out, attacks against Israelis.

The Israeli victims were killed in car-ramming, stabbing, and shooting attacks.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, where they wish to establish an independent state. Endit