JERUSALEM: An explosion Friday near a West Bank settlement that Israel said was a Palestinian attack killed a 17-year-old Israeli girl and wounded her brother and father, Israeli authorities said.
Initially, three Israelis were reported wounded in the blast on Friday near the Dolev settlement, northwest of Jerusalem.
But Israel’s rescue service, known as Magen David Adom, later said the girl died of her wounds while her 21-year-old brother was in serious condition. Their 46-year-old father was moderately wounded, it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered condolences to the family and vowed to pursue perpetrators and “strengthen” Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The family was at a water spring when the explosion occurred, according to the report. It wasn’t immediately clear whether an explosive device was thrown at them or had been planted there earlier.
Tensions have been high in the West Bank in recent weeks, fueled by clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a Jerusalem holy site revered by both.
An off-duty Israeli soldier was killed near the West Bank city of Hebron earlier this month.
