12-Year-Old Girl Mauled by Jackal at Sea of Galilee Campsite

Alice, 12, said she was attacked by a jackal late Friday night while sleeping in a tent at Duga Beach on the Sea of Galilee. Speaking Saturday morning, she said the animal entered the tent and she first thought it was her dog, so she started petting it. Only after the attack did she realize it was a jackal.

Her grandmother, Mira Genin, 60, from Rishon LeZion, was sleeping with her in the tent and woke up around 2:10 a.m. to the girl’s screams. Genin said she saw an animal leave the tent, assumed it was a cat at first, then turned on the light and saw Alice’s face covered with scratches and bites, including a large cut under her eye. She and others washed the wound, and the campsite office told them there had been a jackal attack that night and several guests had been hurt.

In total, 11 guests were injured by jackals and evacuated to the North Medical Center in Tiberias. Genin said they immediately called Magen David Adom, and as they waited, more campers came out of their tents screaming that they had been attacked, bitten, and scratched. She said hospital staff told them the injuries were not just scratches but actual bites to the face and hands, and that all the injured were taken to hospitals.

Genin described the family outing as turning into “a terrible nightmare,” saying she never imagined a family trip to the Kinneret would end in hospitalization. Alice received stitches and will need further cosmetic treatment, and she has started rabies treatment, which the family expects to continue through the Health Ministry. Genin noted that Alice’s bat mitzvah is in about a month and her school graduation is in a few days, but her face is badly scratched. Alice said after treatment, “I’m okay now.”