On Saturday, a 13 year old Arab girl was shot and killed while attempting to stab an Israeli policeman at the entrance to the settlement of Anatot, near Jerusalem. Roqaya Abu-Eid, from the Arab village Anata, reportedly argued with her parents and ran out of the house with a knife, screaming that she wanted to die, arriving at the Jewish settlement shortly after.

“A 13-year-old Palestinian girl with a knife in her hand ran toward the civilian security guard at Anatot,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. “She had a knife and intended to die… The guard opened fire, gravely wounding her and medics pronounced her dead shortly afterward.”

Member of Kenesset, Issawi Frej (Meretz) announced to the press that Abu-Eid could have been restrained rather than killed. “Even if she had a knife, it should have been possible to arrest a girl of that age,” he said. He made reference to the statements made by Swedish Foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, who accused Israel of “extrajudicial executions” and called for “thorough and credible investigations” into the deaths of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces.

A wave of Arab terror attacks has plagued Israel since early October, frequently perpetrated by minors, often by young women. Last week, a 15 year old Arab boy stabbed to death an Israeli woman in her home, and was later arrested. In November, police in Jerusalem shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian and seriously wounded her 14-year-old friend after the two girls stabbed and lightly wounded an elderly Arab-Israeli man in Jerusalem.

On Saturday evening, tragedy was averted in Abu Dis, East Jerusalem, when a Palestinian man blew himself up after a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely. It is unclear whether it was intended to be a suicide attack or whether he intended to throw the explosive device at Israeli security personnel at the nearby checkpoint. No Israelis were injured in the attack.

Also on Saturday evening, a rocket was fired from Gaza towards Israel. The rocket did not enter Israel and exploded inside of Gaza. No injuries were reported. Such attacks are frequently followed by an IAF airstrike in response however no such airstrike has been reported.