Fatah official: Israel to blame for Psagot attack

Israel is responsible for the shooting of a nine-year-old girl in the settlement of Psagot Saturday, Fatah official Jibril Rajoub said Sunday night.

Rajoub said he condemned the attack but the Israeli government was responsible since it is the one “inciting” and using settlement construction to “taunt,” according to Israel Radio.

No decent person would think hurting a child is acceptable, even if that child is not in the right place, he said, adding that he too has a 12-year-old son and he “knows how much it hurts. But I hope that, the end of the day, [Israel] will think how to move the settlers within the Green Line.”

Earlier Sunday, a post on the official Fatah Facebook page praised the shooting in Psagot, as well as the killing of a soldier in Hebron late last month.

“The sniper of Palestine was here. He saluted Hebron, and rested in el-Bireh,” the site administrator wrote in the post, according to watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch. “He left the signature of [real] men in different parts of the homeland. He saluted and left, and moved on to a different place, with a new signature, as he tells the stories of those who love the homeland.”

Nine-year-old Noam Glick, who was shot Saturday night in the settlement of Psagot, is brought to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. (photo credit: Flash90)

On Saturday night, an intruder, thought to be from the Palestinian town of el-Bireh, reportedly infiltrated Psagot and shot the girl, Noam Glick, lightly wounding her.

On September 22, IDF soldier Gal Kobi was killed by apparent sniper fire in Hebron.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a cabinet meeting Sunday, laid blame for the Psagot attack — as well as several other recent attacks — on incitement sanctioned by the Palestinian Authority. Fatah is the main PLO faction, headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

“This past year has been the quietest in over a decade, but lately we have noticed an increase in the number of terrorist attacks,” Netanyahu said. “I must say that the Palestinian Authority cannot shirk its responsibility for these kinds of incidents as long as incitement there continues. The murderers must understand that this won’t help them.”

The shooting also drew calls from right-wing Israeli politicians to call off peace talks with the Palestinians and stop freeing prisoners.

“The attack tonight is a red light for the Israeli government,” MK Shuli Moalem (Jewish Home) said. “Whoever wants to preserve security doesn’t free prisoners.”

In an interview with Army Radio, former IDF Central Command chief Gadi Shamni expressed fears that the recent uptick in terrorism could signal the start of a new intifada.

“The events of the past month may lead to an escalation in the West Bank,” he said. “It’s very difficult to determine if this is the start of an intifada. … I have no doubt that once events such as these occur, this can encourage all sorts of people who might not have acted, to act.”