West Bank attack wounds 9-year-old

JERUSALEM — A 9-year-old Jewish girl was seriously injured in a suspected Palestinian militant attack while playing outside her home Saturday in a settlement in the West Bank, Israeli police said.

Initial reports indicated the attack was carried out by a sniper, but police said they were investigating all options, including the possibility that the Psagot settlement was infiltrated by a Palestinian militant.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said residents were told to stay indoors while searches are underway. Danny Fink, a surgeon at Shaarei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem, told Channel 2 TV that the girl was fully conscious when she was rushed in. “According to what the girl said the terrorist was at close range,” he said.

He said it wasn’t clear if the girl sustained a bullet wound or a knife attack.

Psagot spokesman David Tzviel told the station that the girl’s family lives at the edge of the community near its security fence. He said the most likely scenario was that a Palestinian militant penetrated the settlement. The girl described being attacked by a man with a black mask, he said.

Tensions are high between Israelis and Palestinians in the area.

An Israeli soldier was recently shot and killed by a sniper in the West Bank city of Hebron. And in a separate incident an Israeli soldier was lured to the West Bank and killed by a Palestinian who wanted to trade the body for his brother, who is in an Israeli jail for shooting and bomb attacks.