Uncle of teen girl killed in Israel stabbing speaks out

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- The uncle of a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl with local ties who was brutally murdered in her family's settlement home in the West Bank is speaking out about the tragedy.

Hallel-Yaffa Ariel was stabbed to death by a 17-year-old Palestinian boy who crept into her bedroom.

Security guards shot and killed the attacker.

Ariel's mother sobbed at the funeral for her young daughter.

The girl's uncle lives in Brooklyn.

He spoke to Eyewitness News before heading to Israel Thursday night.

"You have to ask, what brings a 17-year-old kid to lust blood so much that they would kill a girl in bed?" Zvi Aranoff said.

The victim was born and raised in Israel, but she held dual United States citizenship.