Israeli girl seriously wounded, father hurt by firebomb thrown at car in West Bank

11-year-old girl, father wounded in attack that occurred near West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Shomron.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, LAHAV HARKOV
Molotov cocktail attack on the Shapira family's car in the West Bank (December 2014)
A father was wounded and his 11-year-old daughter left in a critical condition near Ma’aleh Shomron Thursday evening when a fire bomb was thrown at their car, setting it ablaze.
Both Avner Shapira and his daughter, Ayala, managed to escape the burning vehicle; initial Magen David Adom paramedic reports suggested that the girl suffered third-degree burns over 30-40 percent of her body, and that her father sustained light injuries. They were both evacuated to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
As of press time Ayala was fighting for her life, a doctor said.
The incident occurred east of Kalkilya in the West Bank, and the IDF has launched a widescale search in the area for the attackers. Searches were focused on the Palestinian village of Tilat, near to Ramallah, where the IDF suspects the terrorists live.
“The searches are ongoing,” said a security source. “I believe we will get to them. We are often able to catch attackers.”
The incident comes three days after a Palestinian terrorist from Tulkarm arrived at the Nitzanei Oz moshav and produced a knife with which he planned to stab a soldier. Troops overpowered the attacker and sent him to security forces for questioning.
The IDF this week launched multiple nighttime raids against terrorism suspects across West Bank cities, including a number of Hamas suspects.
Construction Minister Uri Ariel said the attack should be treated like it was a rocket from Gaza.
“The Molotov cocktail had one purpose – to kill Jews,” Ariel stated, adding that an appropriate Zionist response from security forces would be “firm and severe.” The Bayit Yehudi minister called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the “silent freeze” of settlement construction immediately.
Likud MK Danny Danon said that while Labor leader Isaac Herzog and Hatnua’s Tzipi Livni talk about peace, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas attack children.
“The government must increase security forces and make the terrorist leaders pay a price,” he declared.
Bayit Yehudi primary candidate and former chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip Dani Dayan – who lives in Ma’aleh Shomron, where the attack took place – said: “We cannot allow the continued abandonment of our security. This is the unavoidable result of releasing terrorists.
Security forces must use a heavy hand to eradicate the attacks on Judea and Samaria residents.”
Another Bayit Yehudi primary candidate, Sarah Eliash, is the aunt of the man who was injured. She wished him and his daughter a speedy recovery and asked for the public to pray for them.
“It cannot be that we will have to fear on our way home and think about the safest route,” she said. “This is an absurd situation and the defense minister must instruct the army to bring calm and create a sense of security for those traveling on Judea and Samaria’s roads.”


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