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Hamas Praises Murder of Pregnant Israeli Mother After Terrorist Attack in West Bank
Relatives and friends of Tzeela Gez, who was shot dead while in a car with her husband in the West Bank, as they were driving to hospital to give birth, mourn during her funeral in Jerusalem, May 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Hamas sparked global outrage after lauding the murder of a pregnant Israeli mother of three — shot in the West Bank on her way to the hospital to give birth — as “historic,” amid a surge in violence and ongoing efforts by mediators to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Shortly after the shooting terrorist attack near the West Bank town of Bruqin, Abu Obaida, spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades — the military wing of the Palestinian terrorist group — issued a statement praising the assault.
“We commend the heroic shooting operation near Bruqin, west of Salfit, carried out by the brave members of our people in the West Bank,” Obaida said.
“We call on our people to rise up against the occupation in defense of Al-Aqsa, to confront the aggression in the West Bank and its refugee camps, and to support their steadfast brothers and sisters in Gaza,” he continued.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on Israeli vehicles in the northern West Bank, fatally wounding a pregnant woman and injuring her husband as they made their way to the hospital to deliver their baby.
After the attack, the 30-year-old woman, identified as Tzeela Gez, was quickly transported to Petah Tikva’s Rabin Medical Center in critical condition. Despite doctors’ efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead early Thursday morning.
With an emergency C-section, doctors managed to deliver her baby, who is now in stable condition but continues to fight for his life.
According to the hospital, her husband Hananel, who was driving the car, sustained minor injuries after his condition was initially reported as serious.
Gez’s funeral took place at Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul Cemetery at 5.30 pm on Thursday.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and described Hamas’s celebration of the murder of Gez — who was in her ninth month of pregnancy — as “sickening” in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also condemned the assault, saying it “shows Hamas is proud to stand behind cold-blooded murder.”
“The savage & uncivilized contempt for a pregnant woman & her baby reveals what Israel is fighting [for],” the American diplomat said.
The savage & uncivilized contempt for a pregnant woman & her baby reveals what @Israel is fighting as per report from @IsraelMFA that show Hamas is proud to stand behind cold-blooded murder. https://t.co/GJIkHYBdBF
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) May 15, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced an intensive search for the terrorist who fired on multiple vehicles, with Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“This is a difficult and painful attack in which an Israeli civilian was killed on her way to a delivery room,” Zamir said in a statement. “I share in the deep sorrow of the family.”
“We are engaged in broad fighting against terror in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and we will continue,” the statement read. “We will activate all our tools, and we will reach the murderers to bring them to justice.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the shooting, saying he was “deeply shocked by the horrific terrorist attack.”
“This abhorrent incident precisely reflects the difference between us, who desire and bring life, and the reprehensible terrorists, whose goal is to kill us and destroy life,” the Israeli leader said in the statement released by his office.
אני מזועזע עמוקות מהירצחה של צאלה גז, זכרה לברכה, בפיגוע המחריד בשומרון.
צאלה, שהייתה בהריון מתקדם, עשתה דרכה עם בעלה חננאל לחדר לידה בזמן שהמרצחים ירו בהם באכזריות.
האירוע הנתעב הזה משקף בדיוק את ההבדל בינינו – חפצי ומביאי החיים – לבין המחבלים השפלים שמטרת חייהם היא להרוג בנו… pic.twitter.com/jkWr5K2Ge1
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 15, 2025
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz extended his condolences to the Gez family and offered prayers for the newborn baby’s recovery.
“We will continue to fight terror with great force” in all areas of the West Bank and “will not allow it to raise its head,” he said in a statement.
The post Hamas Praises Murder of Pregnant Israeli Mother After Terrorist Attack in West Bank first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.