Pregnant Jewish woman and six others gunned down in Chanukah terror attack
A young pregnant woman and six other travellers were injured in a Palestinian shooting attack at a bus stop outside the Jewish town of Ofra on Sunday night.
Israeli security and medical personnel evacuate an Israeli woman from the ambulance at the Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem after she was seriously injured in a terror attack in Ofra, Dec. 9, 2018. Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90.
The woman, who was brought to Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek Medical Center in critical condition, has had her condition upgraded to stable, but her son, delivered by emergency Caesarian section, has been downgraded to critical.
The attack took place on the eighth night of Hanukkah at a popular hitchhiking post and bus stop.
Video of the attack showed a white car driving up to the post and slowing down as it passed a group of Jews standing at the stop. The travellers are seen scrambling away as they were sprayed with bullets, with the car immediately driving away.
One pregnant 21-year-old woman, Shira Yael Ish-Ran, was shot in the lower abdomen and was said to be “fighting for her life,” though doctors managed to save the life of her first child, delivered at just 30 weeks gestation. The boy was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, but his condition worsened overnight, and he is now attached to a ventilator.
“A pregnant woman who loses so much blood cannot provide the oxygen necessary for the baby in her belly,” Dr Alon Schwartz, a surgeon at the hospital told Army Radio on Monday. “This was apparently the harm to the baby that we discovered.”
The wounded woman, Shira Yael Ish-Ran and her husband, Amichai Yishai Ish-Ran.
According to Schwartz, the young woman lost a lot of blood and arrived at the hospital in a state of shock. The hospital reported that she has regained consciousness and showed signs of movement, but that she remains in life-threatening danger. Her family requested continued prayers for Shira Yael bat Leora Sarah and for her son, Tinok ben Shira Yael.
Shira is the daughter of Chaim Silberstein, founder and president of Keep Jerusalem, an organization that advocates the unification of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, and the president of the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund, an organization dedicated to reclaiming and strengthening the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and parts of Judea and Samaria.
The woman’s husband was also injured in the attack and underwent surgery at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. His condition was said to have improved from moderate to mild-to-moderate.
Two 16-year-old girls suffered light injuries and were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem.
“Praying for the recovery of those injured in the despicable terrorist attack, including the young mother who brought life to the world from this hellish scene,” wrote Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Twitter. “I send my unreserved support to the security forces who are relentlessly pursuing the terrorists.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are all praying for the wellbeing of the wounded from last night’s terrorist attack in Ofra. We support the doctors who are fighting for the baby’s life. Abhorrent terrorists tried to murder a mother and the baby in her womb. This is monstrous.
There are, of course, cries of joy; I think it is too much to expect a condemnation from the Palestinian Authority. They only contribute to incitement here. Our security forces – the ISA and the IDF – are pursuing the murderers. They will capture them. We will deal with them to the fullest extent of the law and settle accounts with them.”
IDF, border police and security services forces cooperated in a widespread manhunt for the terrorists in Palestinian enclaves near to the attack. Officials stated that the vehicle in which the attempted murder was committed is believed to have contained at least two occupants.
JNS
21 year old Shira was shot in the lower abdomen. Clearly the terrorists wanted to murder and unborn child. And the attackers are deemed to be heroes in their societies.
We still hear high-minded people talking of a two-state solution! Creating a state for such degenerates is immoral. The Hamas ruled villages where they are thought to have come, need to be razed to the ground if those provided hiding places for those who aimed to kill the most innocent.
And the silence of media and countries to such an atrocity should be loudly condemned.