The IDF has launched a manhunt for a terrorist who killed a pregnant Israeli woman in the West Bank last night as her husband was driving her to the hospital to give birth.
Tzeela Gez, a mental health counsellor, was due to give birth to her fourth child and was being taken to the hospital by her husband Hananel. The terrorist opened fire on vehicles driving on route 446 outside the settlement of Bruchin.
The pregnant mother was taken to the Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikvah in critical condition, where the doctors performed an emergency C-section on here during efforts to save her life. The hospital announced her death early on Thursday morning; the baby is said to be in serious but stable condition, while her husband was lightly injured.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “deeply shocked by the horrific attack…against a pregnant woman and her husband, while they were making their way to the delivery room.
“This despicable event reflects exactly the difference between us – those who cherish and bring life – and the despicable terrorists whose life’s goal is to kill us and cut off lives.”
The IDF reportedly surrounded the nearby Palestinian village of Bruqin shortly after the attack, with Israel Katz, the Defence Minister, stating that he had ordered troops to “identify the origin of the attackers and respond with maximum force”.
The Hamas terrorist group described the attack as “heroic”, characterising it as a response to Israel’s “escalating crimes and ongoing aggression against our people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank”.
