District of Columbia: A 13-year-old girl who was fatally stabbed in her home Thursday by a Palestinian attacker in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank is a US citizen, the State Department said.
"We have now confirmed that she is a US citizen," department spokesman John Kirby said of the girl, identified as Hallel Yaffa Ariel.
"This brutal act of terrorism is simply unconscionable. We offer our heartfelt condolences of course to her family and to her friends," Kirby told reporters.
The State Department spokesman -- who called the attack "outrageous" -- did not say whether the teen also held Israeli citizenship.
The attacker, who killed the girl after breaking into her home in the Kiryat Arba settlement outside the flashpoint city of Hebron, was later shot dead by security guards.
The girl was taken to hospital in Jerusalem in critical condition and died of her wounds.
