Hallel Yaffa Ariel, a 13-year-old Israeli girl living in a West Bank Jewish community, was violently stabbed to death inside her own bedroom on Thursday morning.
Her assailant, identified as a young Palestinian boy named Mohammed Tarayrah, was shot and killed before he could flee the scene. News outlets have reported that he was between 17 and 19 years old.
Palestinian Authority official media have reportedly labeled Tarayrah as a "martyr."
This terrorist is not a "martyr." He was not killed because of his religious beliefs -- or any of his beliefs, actually. He was killed because he broke into a home and viciously murdered a girl who was peacefully asleep in her own bed. He committed a disgustingly hateful act in cold blood.
On top of murdering the young girl by stabbing her repeatedly in the back, Tarayrah also stabbed a security guard during the incident. The same guard was also accidentally shot as other officers tried to stop Tarayrah from escaping.
But the responding paramedic, David Adom, stated that “He was fully conscious, speaking with us throughout the ride [to the hospital]."
Hospital officials have reportedly claimed that the guards condition has been upgraded to "moderate" and is out of life-threatening danger.
But Ariel was not as lucky.
Adom reported that when he arrived at Ariel's home, “The girl was unconscious, without pulse and not breathing. She had a number of penetrating wounds on her upper body.”
“We loaded her onto the ambulance while performing CPR. Her condition was very serious,” he said.
Ariel died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Peter Lerner tweeted an image of Ariel's bedroom following the attack, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.
Ariel’s home was located right on the edge of the the Ramat Mamre neighborhood of Kiryat Arba, a community surrounded by a fence that Tarayrah reportedly jumped to get into the neighborhood.
The Times of Israel shared more information on the violent home invasion:
According to an initial account, the attacker jumped the fence — a breach that sent an alert to the IDF and civilian security guards in the area — and broke into the girl’s bedroom.
Forces searching for the cause of the breach heard screams coming from the house and raced in to find the girl with multiple stab wounds in her bed, according to Channel 10.
The Daily Mail reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman after the attack, and that the home village of Tarayrah was sealed off, his extended families work permits were revoked and authorities are working toward demolishing the attacker's home.
Tarayrah allegedly wrote on his Facebook page at the beginning of Ramadan, “Even though we are happy on Ramadan, we carry a great pain in our hearts - we miss you, Yusuf Tarayrah," in reference to his uncle, Yusuf Waleed Tarayrah, who was killed by IDF forces after carrying out a car ramming attack in March.