Two British-Israeli sisters killed in a gun attack in the occupied West Bank have been pictured for the first time as their mother fights for her life.
Rina and Maya Dee were shot dead in an attack on their car near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank on Friday.
Naming the sisters in a tweet on Saturday evening, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “On behalf of all the citizens of Israel, I send my condolences to the family for the murder of the two wonderful sisters, Rina and Maya, in the severe attack in the Bekaa.
“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.”
The two sisters’ 45-year-old mother was seriously wounded in the crash and is still in hospital. Their father, Rabbi Leo Dee, was driving in a separate car ahead of them when a relative called to ask if he knew “about the shooting and if the family was OK”.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, he said: “I said everyone was fine, but when I called my wife and two daughters there was no answer.”
Panicked, he turned on a Google tracking device that allows parents to follow their children’s mobile phones. It led him to Hamra, a settlement 30 miles north of Jerusalem, where he saw his wife being airlifted from the wreckage.
Rabbi Dee said: “My daughters were friends of each other as well as sisters. Now we are diminished. Maya was doing national service in the south, and was passionate about helping others. Rina is what you would call an A* pupil. We were proud of them.
“My wife’s condition is very serious. We are praying, and people around the world are praying, that she will get better.”
He added: “I don’t blame the terrorists as they will be brought to justice. I am more worried about the tensions between Jews in Israel.”
In a statement released to The Telegraph, Rabbi Dee said the family was “saddened” by the “current political situation in Israel”, referring to fears over the presence of several religious, ultra-nationalist politicians in Israel’s new government, which was formed under Mr Netanyahu in January.
“Some people think that a religious government will suppress minority rights and become totalitarian,” he said.
“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 family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlement’s mayor Oded Revivi. Reports said the family moved back to Israel in 2014, having left there for Britain in 2008.
According to The Telegraph, Rabbi Dee works at the Zait Ranaan synagogue in Efrat, and was formerly a senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.
The paper also reported that Palestinian gunmen are said to have chased the car containing the three women off the road before firing on it, with some 22 bullet casings found at the scene.
The murders triggered an outpouring of grief in Efrat, a Jewish settlement near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, and young residents held an impromptu vigil on Friday afternoon.
Friday’s attacks came after Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Tensions have been heightened by days of fighting at Jerusalem’s most holy site during the rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter, sparked by an Israeli police raid on the sacred compound home to the Al-Aqsa mosque.
That outraged Palestinians marking the holy fasting month of Ramadan and prompted militants in Lebanon – as well as Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip – to fire a heavy barrage of rockets into Israel. In retaliation, Israeli war planes struck sites allegedly linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that three rockets were launched from Syria toward Israeli territory, a rare attack from the country’s northeastern neighbour.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket launches, which caused no damage or casualties. Only one rocket managed to cross into Israeli territory and landed in a field in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Also on Saturday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian in the northern occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said it opened fire at Palestinians hurling stones and explosive devices at troops. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the Palestinian killed in the West Bank town of Azzun as Ayed Salim.
Meanwhile, a few hundred Palestinian worshippers barricaded themselves in Al-Aqsa mosque, which sits on a hilltop in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
Late on Friday, an Italian tourist was killed and five other Italian and British citizens were wounded when a car rammed a group in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
Foreign secretary James Cleverly held a call on Saturday with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen to discuss the “appalling” attacks.
Middle East minister Lord Ahmad said: “I condemn yesterday’s attacks in the West Bank.”
British Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan added: “My thoughts are with those affected by another horrific terror attack last night in Tel Aviv ... We are in touch with the hospital and will offer our support.”
The Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns said it was “incredibly difficult to see how” the raid earlier this week was “legitimate” as she urged the government to increase its efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.
The Tory MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there has been “too much silence” from the Foreign Office in recent weeks.
“We need to step up,” she said. “We really need to re-engage, we need to make sure that our Arab partners know that we are here and listening and we need our Israeli friends to know we stand completely behind their security.”
She added that the UK must “be a critical friend to both sides”.
The Foreign Office released a statement saying it was “saddened” to hear about the deaths of the two British-Israelis and the “serious injuries sustained by a third individual”.
“The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions,” it added.
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.”
The Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon came after militants fired nearly three dozen rockets from there.
