British sisters who were killed in West Bank gun attack named and pictured
A pair of British-Israeli sisters who were shot dead near an Israeli settlement on the West Bank have been named.
Rina and Maia Dee, one of whom was reportedly 15 and the other in her twenties, were travelling in a car with their mother when it was attacked.
Local officials said their father, Rabbi Leo Dee, witnessed the incident from a separate vehicle which was following behind theirs.
The 45-year-old mother was seriously wounded in the attack by Palestinian assailants.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a statement naming the London-born sisters for the first time earlier today.
He said: ‘On behalf of all the citizens of Israel, I send my condolences to the Di Mafart family for the murder of the two wonderful sisters.
‘In these moments, if the family is fighting for its life, and together with the entire nation of Israel, I pray for its safety, and we all send our condolences and strength to this dear family in this moment of great sorrow.’
In a statement released to the Telegraph, Rabbi Dee said he was ‘confident that justice will be done’.
He told the newspaper: ‘Some people think that a religious government will suppress minority rights and become totalitarian.’
‘But this is not a risk in Israel as religious Jews simply believe in balancing love and justice. For our part, we have felt a warm hug of love from Jews in Israel and beyond and we are confident that justice will be done.’
The attack on the family, who lived in the Efrat settlement near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, came amid rising tensions and days of fighting at Jerusalem’s most holy site during the rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter.
On Friday, an Italian man was killed and five British and Italian tourists were injured in a car-ramming attack on a street in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly held a call with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, to discuss the ‘appalling’ attacks earlier today.
The Hamas militant group praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque which resulted in dozens of worshippers being injured.
Middle East minister Lord Ahmad said: ‘I condemn yesterday’s attacks in the West Bank, killing two British-Israeli nationals and injuring one other, and in Tel Aviv where an Italian national was killed and British nationals were injured.’
A statement from the Foreign Office said it was ‘saddened’ to hear about the death of the sisters and ‘serious injuries sustained by a third individual’.
It added: ‘The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.’
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