Maia and Rina Dee have been identified as the two British-Israeli sisters who were murdered in the disputed West Bank.
As they travelled to Tiberias on Friday afternoon near the Hamra Junction in the northern Jordan Valley, the sisters were murdered.
They were the offspring of London-born Rabbi Leo Dee, who described their deaths as a “nightmare.”
Leah, their mother, remains hospitalised in critical condition.
Maia was 20 years old and volunteering at a secondary school for national service, while Rina was 15 years old.
As their father drove ahead in a separate vehicle, assailants opened fire on their vehicle and forced it off the road. Rabbi Dee was informed of the attack before he realised that his family had been involved.
He told the BBC that his daughters were “beautiful and amazing” and that he had been unable to sleep since their passing.
“Every time I had nightmares and awoke, the actuality was worse than the dream, so I fell back asleep. That was the outcome.”
The family resides in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, according to its mayor. On Sunday, the sisters’ funeral will take place.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who described the incident as a terrorist attack, expressed his condolences to the family via a tweet in which he named the sisters.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, stated that “no words can express the depth of our shock and sorrow at the heartbreaking news.”
He wrote on Twitter that the two sisters were the daughters of British Rabbi Dee and his wife Lucy, which is believed to be the English name of their mother Leah.
“They were well-liked in the UK communities of Hendon and Radlett, in Israel, and far beyond,” he added.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews stated that they were “deeply stunned and saddened” by their deaths, adding that their father had served as rabbi at the Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly stated on Friday that he had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in response to the attacks, and that anyone concerned about family or acquaintances in Israel should contact the Foreign Office.
In a suspected car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv on Friday, an Italian tourist was murdered and seven others, including three Britons, were injured, including three Italians.
On Saturday, those gathered in Tel Aviv to protest the controversial judicial reforms proposed by the Israeli government observed a moment of silence for the sisters and the Italian tourist.
Both incidents occurred hours after Israeli warplanes attacked Hamas-affiliated targets in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Thursday’s barrage of 34 rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel was attributed to the group, according to the Israeli military.
This barrage of rockets from Lebanon followed two nights of Israeli police assaults on the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, which infuriated the entire region.
Hamas did not claim responsibility for the shooting of the British-Israeli women, but lauded it as a “natural response to [Israel’s] ongoing crimes against the al-Aqsa mosque and its barbaric aggression against Lebanon and the resolute Gaza Strip.”
Ramadan and Passover exacerbate tensions at the Jerusalem sacred site.
After the shooting of two sisters, Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai urged all Israelis with firearms permits to begin carrying them.
The UK Foreign Office issued the following statement in response to the news of the sisters’ deaths on Friday: “We are saddened to learn of the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the severe injuries sustained by a third individual.”
