East Jerusalem girl, 14, arrested for plan to carry out a terror attack and die

A 14-year-old girl from East Jerusalem wrote a farewell letter to her family declaring her intention to die carrying out a terror attack, but was arrested shortly before she could carry out her plan, police said Tuesday.

Officers first became suspicious when on Monday evening they found a pile of papers close to a Jewish home in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Israel Police said in a statement.

One page in particular caught their attention, and a closer look revealed that the author intended to become “a martyr” and was saying farewell to her family, according to the statement. She also expressed support for the Hamas terror group and signed her name.

Officers, together with Border Police, used surveillance footage to track down and arrest the teenager. She was found to be carrying photos of Palestinian terrorists.

During her interrogation, the suspect told officers she intended to carry out a terror attack.

The investigation revealed that the suspect’s father was killed last year while carrying out an attack in the West Bank that injured several members of the security forces, police said. The statement did not specify exactly when the attack occurred or the father’s name.

A court on Tuesday extended the suspect’s remand until January 12 as the investigation continues.

“Police will continue to fight terrorism with determination and using all means to thwart terrorist threats of any kind,” the force said in the statement.

The incident came as Israel battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the terror group’s devastating October 7 attack that killed over 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians. Thousands of terrorists who invaded the country from the Strip also abducted at least 240 people and took them as hostages to Gaza.

Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas, remove it from power, and free the hostages.

Since October 7, troops have arrested more than 2,600 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,300 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, some 300 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.

Based on military estimates, the vast majority of those killed since October 7 were shot during clashes amid arrest raids.

Security chiefs have reportedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the West Bank, which abuts East Jerusalem, is on the brink of a major eruption in violence.