Newborn fights for life after mother killed in terror attack on way to give birth

A newborn boy is fighting for his life on Thursday morning after his mother was killed in a Palestinian terror attack while on her way to the hospital to give birth.

Tzeela Gez, who was in the ninth month of pregnancy, was shot when a Palestinian opened fire on Israeli vehicles travelling on Route 446 near the town of Bruchin, in northern Samaria. She was travelling with her husband, Hananel, to deliver their fourth child. Medics rushed her to Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva, where doctors performed an emergency cesarean section in a desperate effort to save both mother and child.

The baby was delivered in serious condition and transferred to Schneider Children’s Hospital in the same medical compound. As of Thursday morning, doctors continued fighting to save his life. His father, initially listed as seriously hurt, was later said to have suffered only light injuries.

But shortly after dawn, the hospital announced that Gez had died of her injuries.

“This abhorrent incident precisely reflects the difference between us, who desire and bring life, and the reprehensible terrorists, whose goal is to kill us and destroy life,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

A security source told The Press Service of Israel that the shooting was not a drive-by, as some initial reports suggested. Instead, the gunmen had set up an ambush and fired from a concealed position at three Israeli vehicles.

The Israel Defence Forces launched a manhunt for the gunman, sealing off entrances to the nearby Palestinian town of Bruqin and deploying soldiers and drones across the area.

President Isaac Herzog called the attack “a criminal act of terror that chills every heart.” He wrote, “Precisely at a moment of life, a life was cruelly taken. My heart goes out to the grieving family… We are all praying now for the well-being of the baby and the recovery of her injured husband, Hananel.”

Among those shaken by the attack was MK Limor Son Har-Melech of Otzma Yehudit, herself a survivor of a terror attack while pregnant in 2004. Her husband was killed in that shooting. “I imagined Tzeela Gez there, and her husband — that I was praying for his recovery. I imagined how excited they were about the birth, how much they had been waiting for this moment,” she said.

“Yesterday, just as we were celebrating Sarah’s engagement — the daughter born after my own attack — the terrible news came. I couldn’t speak to the media. The pain was too great,” said Son Har-Melech.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a full reinstatement of military checkpoints throughout Judea and Samaria and renewed his push for the death penalty for terrorists. “I wish a speedy recovery to those injured in the heinous attack and pray together with the entire people of Israel for their healing,” he said.

The community of Bruchin mourned the loss of one of their own. “The heart is broken. Once again, we are forced to pay a price in blood for being Jews living in our land. But the blood of our brothers will not be in vain — we will continue to build, hold on to the land, and increase the light and life here in Bruchin and throughout the land,” the community said in a statement.

Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to capture Gez’s killers.

“I have instructed the IDF to locate where the terrorists came from and to deal with the settlement, or the place of residence of their senders, with great force to thwart the terrorists and destroy all terrorist infrastructures, as we have done in similar cases in the past,” he said.

So far, no terror group has claimed responsibility for the murder. According to the IDF, of the 6,000 wanted Palestinians arrested in Judea and Samaria since October 7, 2023, more than 40% are affiliated with Hamas.