4-year-old critically wounded, 3-year-old hurt in 2 East Jerusalem shootings

A four-year-old girl was critically injured overnight Wednesday when she was shot in the head, apparently by a stray bullet, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya.

She was identified by Hebrew media as Rafif Karayeen.

The girl was taken to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center for treatment. The hospital said she was being kept under sedation in the intensive care unit and was in life-threatening condition.

A relative told the Ynet website that the family had sat down to eat the traditional iftar meal held each night during the month of Ramadan fasts, when a bullet suddenly hit her in the head.

The relative said there was no brawl in the area at the time and “we still don’t know where the shot came from.”

In another overnight incident, also in East Jerusalem, a masked gunman opened fire at a shopkeeper and his son, age three, in the Shuafat refugee camp, injuring both of them.

The boy and his father were lightly to moderately wounded.

CCTV footage showed the moment the shooter burst into a shop and opened fire at the pair. In the video, the assailant opens fire, leaves the store, and then returns to again shoot at the man who is shielding the small child with his body.

Local residents told media that the shop has been shot at in the past.

There was no initial indication the incidents were connected. Police said Thursday they had opened investigations into both shootings with the goal of swiftly apprehending the culprits.

Arab leaders say the Israel Police largely ignores the violence in their communities, which includes family feuds and mafia turf wars, domestic violence and so-called honor killings.