Four-year-old Palestinian Girl Fatally Shot in East Jerusalem by Apparent Stray Bullet

A four-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem died Friday from a gunshot wound to the head.

The girl, Haneen Zaloum from the neighborhood of Silwan, was shot in her home. She was brought to a clinic in East Jerusalem and then evacuated to the city's Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

The Israel Police said it suspects the girl was shot by a stray bullet. Sources in Silwan said gunshots were heard during an altercation between people in the neighborhood.

There have recently been several gunfights between families in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Isawiyah and Shoafat. On Wednesday, the brother of a senior Palestinian Authority official was shot dead in an altercation near Ramallah.

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In June, 4-year-old Rafif Karain from East Jerusalem died after getting hit by a bullet to the head. The Israel Police then also suspected that she was shot by a stray bullet, saying it was shot over the separation wall between Jerusalem and the West Bank. Sources in the Isawiyah neighborhood doubted the police's claim, and some said the girl's father was involved in a dispute.

Two weeks ago, an East Jerusalem resident was shot to death but Israeli police failed to investigate because the shooting took place in Kafr Aqab, beyond the West Bank separation wall.