A Teenage Girl and Her Cat: This is How Jana Zakarneh Was Killed (VIDEOS)

Jana Zakarneh, 16, was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin. (Photo: via Social Media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Despite earlier plans for the Zakarneh family to bury their 16-year-old Jana, who was killed by Israeli soldiers on Sunday in the town of Jenin, they decided to allow for an autopsy to be conducted. The reason behind the sudden reversal is the Israeli propaganda, which claimed that Jana was shot by Palestinian fighters. 

Later on, the Israeli military changed its version of the events once more, claiming that “the girl may have been killed unintentionally” by Israeli soldiers. 

On Sunday night, just before midnight, the body of Jana Majid Zakarneh was found covered in blood on the roof of her family’s house in Al-Bayader neighborhood in the eastern side of Jenin City, in the northern Occupied Palestinian West Bank. 

On that very night, Israeli Occupation troops were busy raiding the neighborhood, looking for ‘wanted’ Palestinian fighters. Jana’s uncle, Majid, told a local Al Jazeera reporter that “around 10:30 pm on Sunday night, the Israeli army raided the neighborhood. During the raid, the sound of intense firing was heard near the Zakarneh family home.”

“When she heard the intensity of the firing,” Majid continues, “Jana climbed to the roof of the house to check on her cat, fearing that the cat could get shot. But Jana never came back.”

In the midst of the chaos, the family was not immediately aware that Jana was missing. When the Israeli army left the neighborhood, the father tried to check on all of his kids. He called on Jana repeatedly but she never answered. When he climbed to the roof, he found Jana lying in a pool of blood. 

The Jenin Hospital said that Jana was shot with four bullets, two in the chest and two in the face, “causing a large split”. 

Jana’s body is now at the ‘Adli Medical Clinic at Najah University in Nablus. Palestinian and Arab media also reported that the empty shells of some of the bullets have already been recovered. Other empty shells were found in a nearby building where Israeli troops were stationed during the raid. 

The Zakarneh family is also disputing the Israeli claim that Jana was killed by mistake. They build their claim on two facts: one, the 16-year-old was killed by four bullets, not a single shot. Second, the building where Israeli soldiers were stationed is significantly higher than the Zakarneh family’s roof. It follows that Israeli soldiers knew exactly what was taking place on the roof at that time: a teenage girl trying to save her cat. 

“Four bullets targeting the upper body of Jana, and they say it was a mistake,” Jana’s uncle says, adding “there are certainly other bullets that were also fired but they did not hit Jana.”

Jana is the only female in her house. A year ago, she left school in order for her to take care of her mother who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

After accepting that it may have been responsible for the death of Jana, the Israeli army claimed that the Palestinian girl was standing near armed fighters on the roof, insisting that it never “intentionally fires at innocent civilians”.

(The Palestine Chronicle, Aljazeera.net)

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2 Comments

  1. ” … insisting that it never “intentionally fires at innocent civilians”.
    a pretty obvious LIE.
    Did she have a weapon? NO.
    Was she involved in a (gun) fight? NO.
    Is there any proff taht she did anything against the Israeli soldiers? Obvioulsy NO.
    She was murdered in cold blood.
    The soldiers who killed have to be held accountable for this.

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