Drive-by Shooting Leaves Mother, Premie Baby, in Critical Condition

Tzippe Barrow
12-10-2018

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JERUSALEM, Israel – Doctors at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center said  Monday the premature infant delivered after a drive-by shooter critically injured his mother Sunday has been put on a ventilator.

The baby's 21-year-old mother, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy, remains in critical but stable condition. The shooter also hit the baby's father and five other passengers waiting at a bus stop near the Samarian town of Ofra.

Israeli security forces are still searching for the shooter who drove off after the attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the nation is praying.

"We are all praying for the well-being 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," his statement read.
 
"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 [Israel Security Agency] 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."

Hamas, which praised last week's UN vote in its favor, called the shooting "blessed."

"We appreciate the blessed shooting that proves that the resistance is present in the occupied West Bank despite the ongoing attempts to destroy it," the Times of Israel translated Hamas spokesman Abdelatif al-Qanou Arabic-language post on Facebook. "It proves that any attempt to condemn the Palestinian resistance will fail in the face of the desire and valiance of our Palestinian people."

According to the report, Hamas leaders later labeled the attack "heroic," saying the victims were "Israeli occupation soldiers" rather than civilians.

"The West Bank is taking the initiative today to resist the occupation and to respond to its ongoing aggressions against our people, where the heroic shooting of a group of Israeli occupation soldiers near the settlement of 'Ofra' in Ramallah, is an affirmation of the legitimate right of our people to resist the occupation."

In a tweet Monday morning, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman reminded the United Nations of last week's failure to pass a resolution condemning Hamas attacks against Israel.

"Another vile act of Palestinian terrorism last night included the shooting of a pregnant woman," Friedman tweeted.

White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt also condemned the UN vote.

"UN this is what you defended last week when you failed to condemn Hamas. Hamas praises yet another terror attack. You had the ability to help fight against terror. Is this what the UN wants its legacy to be?"

Hamas, the Palestinian faction that's ruled the Gaza Strip for more than a decade, has recently talked about a long-term ceasefire with Israel, mediated by Egypt, while continuing its terrorist activities, which include weekly protests along the border with Israel and less-frequent attempts to infiltrate Israel.

Hamas, the Palestinian branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, is listed as a terror organization by the US and Israel.

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About The Author

Tzippe
Barrow

From her perch high atop the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, Tzippe Barrow tries to provide a bird's eye view of events unfolding in her country. Tzippe's parents were born to Russian Jewish immigrants, who fled the czar's pogroms to make a new life in America. As a teenager, Tzippe wanted to spend a summer in Israel, but her parents, sensing the very real possibility that she might want to live there, sent her and her sister to Switzerland instead. Twenty years later, the Lord opened the door to visit the ancient homeland of her people.
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