“They crush your people, LORD; they oppress your inheritance.” (Psalm 94:5)
The public has been asked to pray for an 11-year-old Ayala Shapira who was seriously wounded in a firebomb attack near Ma’ale Shomron in Samaria on Thursday.
The attack came as her father, Avner Shapira, was driving on the road that connects Ma’ale Shomron with the settlement of El-Matan, where they live.
Shapira described the attack from his hospital bed, “We saw him from the top of the road, lighting the firebomb and hurling it.”
“I shouted to my daughter to get out and she was able to do so. We were able by the grace of God to get out of the car, but she was much more seriously wounded than I was,” he said.
The Shapira car is engulfed in flames after Palestinians threw a Molotov cocktail.
The medic who rescued Ayala found her suffering with third degree burns over 50 percent of her head and upper body, causing her face to need reconstructive surgery after she is stabilized. (YNet)
“She was admitted to the trauma unit for surgery. She is suffering from injuries to the areas of the head and hands and medical teams are working to stabilize her condition,” said Prof. Ze’ev Rothstein, Director of Sheba Hospital. (JPost)
“it is not clear at this point if her life is in danger,” he said. “We will do everything possible to save her.” (Arutz Sheva)
Her medical condition is described as complex and she is expected to be in the hospital for two to three months, with reconstructive surgery occurring over many more months.
Her father sustained minor burns. He noted that his wife had been targeted with a fire bomb a month ago in the same area, but managed to escape unscathed.
The young girl’s mother, Ruth, described Ayala, the eldest of five girls, as being exceptional:
“Ayala is a very special girl. She is an exceptionally smart child, who was on her way home from a program for youth gifted in mathematics at the Bar-Ilan University. They were hit by a Molotov cocktail at a spot where they already threw firebombs at us in the past—that time it was at me, and the only damage was to the car. This time the vehicle was burned to the ground.” (YNet)
“If she wasn’t such a quick-witted child, we wouldn’t be talking right now,” Ruth Shapira said.
On December 3, a Palestinian teen stabbed two Israeli shoppers at the Rami Levy Supermarket, which serves and employs both Arabs and Jews.
The attack is one of many in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) against Israelis since October. These attacks include a stabbing attack at a Ma’ale Adumim supermarket, and another at the Gush Etzion junction.
In November, a 26-year-old woman was killed in a stabbing attack that left two others wounded in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut. (Haaretz)
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet security service know how to respond to a situation in which popular terrorist attacks, including firebombing and stone-throwing, occur,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Firday, adding, “The battle against such attacks is complex and requires determination and a firm hand.”
The IDF arrested two Palestinians suspected of throwing the firebomb, and 10 others were arrested Friday in Azzoun, a Palestinian village near the attack, for suspected involvement.
