Two British sisters killed and mum seriously wounded in West Bank gun attack
Two British sisters have been shot dead and their mother badly injured in a gun attack near a Jewish settlement on the West Bank.
Their father witnessed the horror from another car travelling with them in the Jordan Valley on Friday.
Oded Revivi, mayor of the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said the family were residents.
He added: ‘With great sorrow we received an update on a shocking terrorist attack in which terrorists shot a car including a mother and her two daughters, residents of Efrat.
‘The two girls were murdered and the mother is in (a) critical condition and we all pray for her quick recovery.
‘The father of the family who drove in another car from the front turned around and witnessed the efforts to take care of his wife and daughters.’
It was the second deadly attack on Friday, coming before one tourist was killed and five others wounded in a car ramming attack in Tel Aviv.
The attacker was ‘neutralised’ by an officer at the scene when he tried to pull a gun out, police said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed them ‘to mobilise all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to mobilise additional forces to confront the terror attacks’.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said: ‘I am shocked by reports of the killing of two British sisters in an appalling and cowardly attack in the West Bank.
‘My thoughts are with their family and loved ones. More civilian victims of this cycle of violence show the urgent need for diplomatic efforts to de-escalate.’
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had earlier called for calm after Israel launched strikes in southern Lebanon and bombed targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation over rocket attacks.
The cross-border fighting, while Jews are celebrating the Passover holiday and Muslims are marking Ramadan, erupted following violent scenes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon came after militants fired nearly three dozen rockets from there.
The Israeli military said it targeted installations of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Lebanon.
Mr Cleverly said both sides in the Israel-Palestine dispute should ‘recommit themselves to a negotiated settlement’.
He said: ‘The UK condemns the indiscriminate rocket attacks from southern Lebanon and Gaza and recognises Israel’s right to self-defence.
‘Now is the time for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.
‘At the convergence of Passover, Ramadan and Easter, the UK calls for all parties to respect the historic status quo arrangements at Jerusalem’s holy sites and cease all provocative action.
‘The UK is a strong supporter of freedom of religion or belief and calls for places of worship to be respected.
‘We value Jordan’s important role as custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem and condemns the Israeli police violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
‘When Israeli security forces conduct operations, they must ensure they are proportionate and in accordance with international law.’
In Jerusalem, violence flared again at the Al-Aqsa Mosque before dawn prayers, with Israeli police stationed at one of the gates forcibly dispersing vast crowds of worshippers who chanted praise for Hamas.
Human rights campaign group Amnesty International UK criticised Mr Cleverly’s response.
The charity’s Kristyan Benedict said: ‘James Cleverly’s belated response to shocking Israeli violence against Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque isn’t just weak and tokenistic – it’s also dangerously misguided because it effectively isolates individual incidents of violence from the overall context, which is decades of apartheid, occupation and systematic injustice against the Palestinian people.
‘Despite the Foreign Secretary’s usual platitudes about “peace” and “de-escalation”, the UK continues to oppose vital international measures such as the ongoing ICC (International Criminal Court) investigation, designed to bring justice and accountability for Israeli and Palestinian civilians.’
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