Relatives of slain Jewish teenager visit sensitive holy site

JERUSALEM – Family members of a slain Jewish teenager have made a high-profile pilgrimage to a sensitive Jerusalem holy site.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says some 80 relatives of Hallel Yaffa Ariel visited the Temple Mount Tuesday, a sacred spot also known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Ariel, 13, was stabbed to death while she slept in her bed in the Kiryat Arba settlement last month.

The visit passed without incident.

Ariel’s stabbing was among the most brutal in a ten-month wave of violence in which Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two Americans. About 200 Palestinians have been killed during this time, most identified as attackers by Israel.

The outbreak was sparked over tensions at the Jerusalem site. Ariel’s mother Rina says their visit aimed to “strengthen the nation’s heart.”