Israeli-American Killed in Jericho Attack

Facts

• An Israeli-American, identified as 26-year-old  Elan Ganeles, was killed in a drive-by shooting Monday near Beit HaArava, an Israeli settlement outside of Jericho. The shooters are still unknown but assumed to be Palestinians.¹
• Israeli officials said the gunmen carried out multiple drive-by shootings along a major highway outside Jericho, though the only reported casualty was Ganeles. The US Dept. of State also confirmed that Ganeles was a US citizen.²
• Ganeles, a recent Colombia University graduate from West Hartford, Connecticut, will reportedly be buried in Israel before his parents return to the US to sit shiva.¹
• The attack, after which the shooter and accomplices set their vehicle on fire and fled, followed settler riots earlier near Nablus over the shooting of two Israelis by Palestinian gunmen on Sunday, for which Israel sent hundreds of troops to the northern West Bank.³
• The riots in Huwara and other villages left one Palestinian dead, dozens of buildings burned, and around 95 people injured from tear gas.³
• Israel has launched regular raids throughout the West Bank following a spree of Palestinian attacks last year, including a raid in Nablus last week that killed 11 people and injured over 100. A Palestinian gunman also opened fire near a synagogue last month in an east Jerusalem settlement, killing seven people.⁴

Sources: ¹Jerusalem Post, ²Al Jazeera, ³Associated Press and ⁴CNN.

Narratives

• Pro-Israel, as provided by Times of israel. The perpetrators of this cruel terrorist attack must be held accountable. Elan Ganeles, a young man with his whole life ahead of him, was killed in cold blood by Palestinian terrorists. The settle rampage on Sunday was, of course, barbaric and monstrous, but that doesn't justify the killing of an innocent young man. Israeli forces must pursue these terrorists and acquire justice for Ganeles's grieving family.
• Pro-Palestine, as provided by Middle east eye. No one wants to see killings in the holy land, but it's the occupation that has caused these tragedies. Palestinians are facing a state-backed campaign of ethnic cleansing and are lashing out against their colonizers. Emboldened by international silence after killing more Palestinians last year than in any other year since the Second Intifada, the occupation is becoming even more violent.