Pregnant Israeli woman killed in West Bank shooting attack

A pregnant Israeli woman has been shot and killed in what Israeli authorities say was a terrorist attack in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Tzeela Gez, 30, was driving to a hospital with her husband Hananel to give birth when a gunman opened fire on their car near their home in the settlement of Bruchin on Wednesday evening. Mrs Gez was critically wounded while Mr Gez was lightly wounded.

Doctors performed an emergency caesarean section and delivered the baby in a serious but stable condition. But they were unable to save Mrs Gez’s life.

The Israeli military said its forces were pursuing the gunman. Troops reportedly surrounded the nearby Palestinian village of Bruqin afterwards.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “deeply shocked by the horrific attack in [the northern West Bank] against a pregnant woman and her husband, while they were making their way to the delivery room”.

“This despicable event reflects exactly the difference between us – those who cherish and bring life – and the despicable terrorists whose life’s goal is to kill us and cut off lives,” he added.

Defence minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the Israeli military to “identify the origin of the attackers and respond with maximum force”.

There was no immediate claim from any Palestinian armed groups, but Hamas praised the attack as a “heroic” response to Israel’s “escalating crimes and ongoing aggression against our people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank”.

Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.

The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law – a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year – although Israel disputes this.