- Tirza Porat
Tirza Porat ( _he. תרצה פורת; b. 1973?– d.
April 6 ,1988 ) was a 15-year-oldIsrael i girl fromElon Moreh , a religiousIsraeli settlement on theWest Bank , killed during a confrontation between Jewish settlers and Palestinian residents that occurred during theFirst Intifada on April 6, 1988. She was the first Israeli civilian casualty in the West Bank during the Intifada. Despite early reports that she had been stoned to death byPalestinian s, an Israeli investigation concluded that she had been accidentally shot by Romam Aldubi, a Jewish 26-year old violence-prone religious nationalist who served as her guard. cite news| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDF123CF932A25757C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print| title=West Bank Settlers Turn Anger Against the Army| author=John Kifner| publisher=The New York Times | date=April 11 ,1988 ]Incident
The incident occurred near the Palestinan village of
Beita . A group of 15 teenagers, two guards, and a guide had gone hiking during thePassover school holiday. When they stopped for a picnic lunch near the Palestinian village Beita, they encountered stonethrowing. Some residents of Beita offered to help and led them to the village.Within the village, stones were again thrown at the group of Israelis, and a mêlée ensued. Palestinian residents said the guards provoked the incident by opening fire on Palestinians who approached the Israelis, and killing a 19-year-old Palestinian. This angered the dead Palestinian's companions who then charged the hikers. During the scuffle, the guard's rifle was wrestled away. Initial reports said that the girl was killed by stones thrown by Palestinians, but later pathology reports concluded that the guard Romam Aldubi, who was knocked out by a rock during the mêlée and remained hospitalized afterwards, accidentally fired the shot that killed Tirza. Chief of Staff Gen.
Dan Shomron later said that Palestinian villagers protected the Jewish children from further harm.A medic in a
CBS News crew on site began treating the Israelis injured, some of whom were evacuated byPalestine Red Crescent Society ambulances. Two Palestinians were shot and killed in the violence. Some Beita residents tried to help the teenagers, including several women who hid three girls inside their homes.Following the incident, the Israeli army destroyed 13 homes in Beita that, according to the Israeli army, allegedly belonged to the stone-throwers.
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