Hospital says baby of Israeli woman killed in West Bank has died

JERUSALEM: The baby of an Israeli woman killed by a Palestinian gunman in the occupied West Bank two weeks ago has died, the hospital treating the newborn said Thursday. On May 14, Tzeela Gez was on her way from her home in the West Bank settlement of Bruchin to a Tel Aviv hospital to give birth when the gunman opened fire on the vehicle she was travelling in with her husband.

Gez, 37, died of her wounds, while her baby was delivered by emergency caesarean section, the hospital that treated them said. But on Thursday, Schneider Children's Medical Center announced "with regret that last night the baby Ravid Chaim, who was born after the terror attack in Samaria (the northern West Bank) about two weeks ago in which his mother, Tzeela Gez, of blessed memory, was murdered, has passed away".Ravid had been in "serious condition in the neonatal intensive care unit", where doctors had "fought for his life", the hospital added. "Unfortunately, despite the many efforts, the hospital was forced in recent hours to declare his death."The Israeli military said last week that the shooter had been identified and "eliminated" following a manhunt in the West Bank. Like all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, Bruchin is considered illegal under international law. "There are no words that can console the murder of a newborn infant together with his mother," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"The heroism of the pioneering settlers in Judea and Samaria and their self-sacrifice are what will defeat all our enemies."Israel's far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir called the attack a reminder of "the need for a decisive response against a cruel enemy who kills mothers and children as a pastime".Denouncing the deaths, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, called for "construction and more construction in memory of Ravid and Tzeela".Earlier on Thursday, Israel announced that the security cabinet had approved the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.