Injured girl; Photo credit: Courtesy of the photographer
Sunday, October 4, 2020, 8:37 Approximately one month ago, as a family was driving home to Neve Tzuf, near the village of Deir Abu Masha’al a vehicle burst out from the opposite lane. A terrorist leaned half of his body out of the window and threw a large rock directly at their car, as both vehicles were in motion.
The rock shattered the front windshield, passed between the driver and the front seat passenger and hit a ten-year-old girl sitting in the rear seat. The rock hit the girl’s forehead, bending her head backwards and causing a deep cut. She was evacuated, heavily bleeding, to the Sheba-Tel HaShomer Hospital for a CAT scan and stitches. Bleicher stated that the position of the girl’s head leaning back on the headrest saved her life.
In his letter to the police, Bleicher wrote: “[My client] is still suffering from the injury to her neck vertebrae. This was a cruel attack that only by a miracle did not end with the death of a ten-year-old girl, or G-d forbid with the death of the whole family.”
The GSS detained two suspects who admitted to carrying out the attack and they are expected to be indicted at the Ofer Military Court in the next few days. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the family, demanded that the Military Advocate General put the terrorists on trial for attempted murder.
Bleicher: “The terrorists seek to kill entire Jewish families, any way they can. They must be penalized in a manner which causes deterrence. They must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and permanently removed from society.”
The girl’s mother, who was driving the car at the time of the attack: “I hope that the terrorists receive the maximum penalty. We could have been in a different place today.”
In May 2020, Honenu launched a campaign to put a stop to rock and Molotov cocktail throwing attacks. The organization calls on on everyone who has experienced an attack to contact their headquarters so that the terrorists can be brought to trial. Currently, the vast majority of cases of rock and Molotov cocktail throwing are closed within a few days, sometimes on the same day, without any investigative action being taken. By advising motorists traveling through Yehuda and Shomron and by closely following complaints filed by victims, Honenu hopes to lead a change in prosecuting attackers, who are frequently not even apprehended.
For a selection of cases in which Honenu Attorneys have represented victims of rock or Molotov cocktail attacks, please see here.