12-Year-Old Bitten in Face by Jackal at Sea of Galilee Camp, Family Says Vacation Turned Nightmare

A 12-year-old girl named Alice was bitten in the face by a jackal while sleeping in a tent at Duga Beach on the Sea of Galilee, and another 10 people were injured and taken to hospital after a jackal attack in the area.

Alice’s grandmother, Mira Gonen, and her cousin, Daniel Naderman, who were there during the incident, described the attack in an interview on the morning show "The World This Morning." Gonen said that at about 2 a.m. she heard a scream, saw an animal jumping away from Alice’s direction and leaving the tent, and initially thought it was a cat.

When they turned on the light, Gonen said they saw Alice bleeding from her face. "She was very frightened and did not understand what happened, the vacation turned into a horror movie," Gonen said.

Gonen added that Alice has already received a rabies vaccine and is worried about how her face will look ahead of her bat mitzvah celebrations. "She does not want to leave the house," Gonen said. The Kinneret Cities Association said it regrets the difficult experience of the vacationers and views the incident seriously. It said it would hold an urgent meeting with the Nature and Parks Authority and the veterinary services responsible for wildlife in order to act quickly and prevent a repeat.