Father and husband of British-Israeli family killed in West Bank attack will be ‘haunted’ by missed call

The father of two British-Israeli sisters killed in the West Bank has said he will be “haunted” after missing a call from them during the attack – as his wife also died in hospital from her wounds.

Israel‘s Hadassah hospital announced the death of Lucy Dee, 45, on Monday.

She had been in a coma after the family’s car was attacked by suspected Palestinian militants on Friday.

Her daughters, Maia and Rina Dee, aged 20 and 15, died at the scene when their car was shot at and forced off the road.

The husband and father of the victims was unhurt as he was in another car some distance away, but Mrs Dee was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

Speaking on Monday, Rabbi Leo Dee said “our family of seven is now a family of four” as he described trying to call them when he heard a car had been attacked on their route.

“I called Lucy – no answer, I called Maia – no answer, I called Rina – no answer. Then I saw a missed call from Maia at 10.52am – I hadn’t notice it ring, I hadn’t picked up the phone.

“The feeling she called me during the attack and I wasn’t able to speak to her will come back and haunt me for a while,” he said.

Mr Dee said the attack had been carried out “by a terrorist with a automatic Kalashnikov rifle – 20 bullets”.

It happened near Hamra, about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, but the family lived in the settlement of Efrat – close to Bethlehem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited the scene and vowed to catch the killers.

Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis led tributes in the UK and tweeted that “our indescribable pain has reached yet greater depths”.

“I vividly recall being welcomed so graciously by Lucy into her home in Radlett, where she & Rabbi Dee were passionately & lovingly engaged in enriching people’s lives through education, inspiration and acts of kindness,” he said.

Leo Dee was senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire from 2011-2014 and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London, from 2008-2011.

The family moved back to Israel in 2014, said Mordechai Ginsbury, a rabbi at the Hendon synagogue.

He said the Dees were the “nicest, loveliest people” and he was “so, so sorry”.

“To think that in a few moments, so senselessly and painfully, this has happened, such a tragic loss of life, of goodness, is just devastating,” added Mr Ginsbury.

The death of Lucy Dee came as the Palestinian health ministry said a 15-year-old had been killed during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank.

It said Mohammad Balhan was hit in the head, chest and abdomen near Jericho.

Israel said Monday’s raid in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp was to apprehend people suspected of attacks and that its troops faced live fire and explosives.

Italian tourist Alessandro Parini was also killed on the same day as the attack on the Dee family when a car drove at people in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Police shot the attacker dead as he reached for his weapon but five other tourists, including Britons, were hurt in the incident near the promenade.

An Israeli security source identified the assailant as an Israeli-Arab from the town of Kafr Qassem.

Friday’s attacks followed Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Gaza – launched in response to rocket attacks on Thursday that it blamed on militant group Hamas.

Tensions are also high following police raids last week on Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem as the Muslim and Jewish festivals of Ramadan and Passover coincide.

Read more:
Why is there tension over Jerusalem holy site?

Stun grenades and tear gas were fired in the early hours of Wednesday after several hundred Palestinians remained after prayers.

Israeli police said they tried to clear them peacefully but that a small group – some of whom had fireworks, sticks and stones – barricaded themselves in.

Locals blamed Israeli authorities for the violence while Jordan and Egypt, who have been involved in peace talks, condemned the police’s actions.

Violence has surged in the region this year, with more than 90 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners killed.