British-Israeli sisters shot dead in West Bank named
Two British-Israeli sisters, Maia and Rina Dee, were shot and killed in the occupied West Bank as they were travelling to Tiberias, while their mother, Leah, was critically injured in the same attack. The sisters were 20 and 15 respectively.
Their father, Rabbi Leo Dee, said they were “wonderful, beautiful, smart and popular.” The family lives in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, and the sisters were volunteers for national service.
The UK’s chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, said they were much loved in the Hendon and Radlett communities in the UK as well as in Israel, and beyond.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a terror attack and sent condolences to the family.
An Italian tourist was killed and seven others were injured, including three Britons, in a car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv. It is not clear whether the two attacks were related.
The shootings took place after Israeli warplanes launched air strikes in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip against Hamas targets, in response to a barrage of 34 rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. Hamas did not claim responsibility for the shootings but praised them as a natural response to Israeli aggression.