The firebombed car near Maale Shomron
The firebombed car near Maale ShomronMDA Judea and Samaria

Eleven year-old Ayala Shapira, who was injured in the firebomb attack near Ma'ale Shomron Thursday night, is being treated for numerous injuries and burns she sustained in the attack. Shapira is in serious condition. Doctors said they are “fighting” to save her life.

Ayala was driving in a car with her father, Avner, on the access road to the new community of El Matan when they were attacked by Arab terrorists who threw a firebomb at his vehicle Thursday night. The two suffered burns, but managed to escape from their burning vehicle. They were treated on the scene by Magen David Adom rescue workers and taken to Sheba (Tel Hashomer) hospital. The girl is said to be in serious condition by doctors.

The incident occurred on a service road between Ma'ale Shomron and the new community of El-Matan. Ma'ale Shomron is located off Road 55, which stretches between Kfar Sava and Shechem. IDF troops were in pursuit of the terrorists.

Speaking outside his daughter's hospital room, Shapira said that the terrorist needed to be treated like one. “The man who did this was not a criminal, he was a terrorist. He was a soldier of the Arab enemy, which is carrying out a war of annihilation against us. He was an agent of the Arab nation that sent him, as it sends many such soldiers, to kill us and evict us from our land.”

Professor Ze'ev Rothstein, Director of Sheba Hospital, where Ayala is being treated, said that Avner was relatively lightly injured, and was suffering from surface burns. Ayala, meanwhile, is suffering from much more severe injuries. “It is not clear at this point if her life is in danger,” he said. “We will do everything possible to save her.”

Avner Shapira is the nephew of Sarah Eliash, well known educator and public figure who founded and was former principal of the Lehava girls school in Kedumim, was deputy head of the Council of Judea and Samaria and is a candidate for a spot on the Jewish Home Knesset ticket. “I pray that they make a full recovery, and I ask for everyone to pray for the recovery of Ayelet bat Ruth and Anver ben Rachel,” she said.