16-year-old girl stabbed at Pride Parade dies of wounds

A 16-year-old girl who was stabbed during Jerusalem’s Gay Pride Parade on Thursday died Sunday after succumbing to her wounds, hospital officials said.

Shira Banki had been hospitalized at Ein Karem in the capital in serious condition following the attack, in which five other people were stabbed as well.

One other person, Yarden Noy, was injured critically in the stabbing but has since recovered and is set to be released from the hospital in the coming days.

The other four people stabbed by Yishai Schlissel were lightly to moderately injured.

Banki’s family said they would donate her organs.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat expressed deep sorrow over Banki’s murder, and vowed to protect the rights and security of all the capital’s residents.

“The murder at the Gay Pride Parade on the streets of Jerusalem is a criminal act, and we will not allow it to achieve its aim,” Barkat wrote in a press statement.

“We will continue to provide full freedom of expression for each and every person in the city, we will continue to support all groups and communities in the city and at the [Jerusalem] Open House ]for Pride and Tolerance], we will enhance the education on acceptance of others and tolerance in the school system and will not be deterred by the foul means of those who attempt to prevent it,” he added.

“We offer condolences to [Banki’s] family and continue to support the school community and her schoolmates.”

Schlissel carried out the attack three weeks after he was released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence for perpetrating an identical crime a decade ago.

Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, was found fit to stand trial on Friday, although he refused legal counsel, saying he did not recognize the legal standing of the court since it did not abide by Jewish law.

Schlissel was unrepentant after an attack in 2005 in which he stabbed and wounded three people and said he was on a mission from God.

Police were criticized for allowing him to approach the parade again after being released from prison.

Following the stabbing attack and Friday’s deadly firebombing on the home of a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Duma, near Nablus, allegedly by Jewish extremists, a number of groups held “emergency” rallies in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheba on Saturday night condemning violence and incitement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a pre-recorded clip that aired at the Tel Aviv protest in which he mainly addressed the Jerusalem stabbings.

“We reject this hatred outright,” Netanyahu said. “We will do whatever is necessary to draw the lessons from this [incident]. But the most important lesson is accepting the other even when they are not like you,” he said.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.