Lucy Dee dies of wounds three days after terror attack that killed her two daughters
The family has donated the organs of the 48-year-old, who was critically injured in Friday's shooting in the northern Jordan Valley while traveling to Tiberias for a family trip.
Lucy (Lucianne) Dee died of her wounds on Monday, three days after a West Bank terror shooting in which her two daughters were slain, hospital officials said.
Dee, 48, was critically injured in the Friday shooting in the northern Jordan Valley and her condition remained dire since then.
“Unfortunately, despite persistent efforts, due to her critical injury, the [medical] team had to declare her death today,” the Hadassah Ein Kerem medical centre in Jerusalem said.
“The family members gave warm thanks to the team at Hadassah who did everything possible to save Lucy, and did not give up until her last moments,” the hospital said in a statement.
It added that the Dee family had decided to donate Lucy’s organs, which would be used to save the lives of others.
Lucy Dee’s funeral is to be held at Kfar Etzion at 14:00 on Tuesday.
“In the name of all Israelis, I offer deepest condolences to the Dee family over the passing of mother Leah (Lucy),” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
President Isaac Herzog noted the prayers for her recovery, “but tragically Leah… has died of her injuries.”
“On behalf of the entire people of Israel, I send my warmest condolences to the Dee family and pray that they will know no more sorrow,” he said in a statement.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said “the heart is broken by the news” of Dee’s passing, “a day after her two daughters were buried.” He added that he “and all the people of Israel offer strength to the family and embrace it.”
Efrat Rabbi Yair Binstock eulogised Lucy, who was an English teacher, as “the first address for everything. An amazing educator. Everyone who came into contact with her family saw it right away — a benevolent woman who opened her home to all, simply an angel.”
Thousands of mourners gathered on Sunday afternoon to pay their last respects to sisters 20-year-old Maia Dee and 15-year-old Rina Dee, who were killed in the attack.
The three were dual Israeli-British nationals who lived in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, just south of Jerusalem, after moving to Israel some eight years ago.
In the Friday attack, near the settlement of Hamra in the northern Jordan Valley, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the victims’ car, causing it to crash on the highway’s shoulder. The terrorists then opened fire at the car again, killing the two sisters and critically wounding their mother.
The father of the family, Rabbi Leo Dee, was traveling in a separate car just ahead with other members of the family on a trip to Tiberias. He turned back in the wake of the attack and was present as medics arrived to treat his family.
“You dreamed of travelling the world, now you’re travelling to heaven,” said Rabbi Dee at his daughters’ funeral.
“How will I explain to Lucy what has happened to her two precious gifts, when she wakes up from her coma?” he added, while Lucy Dee was still hospitalised in critical condition.
The Israel Defense Forces launched a manhunt for the gunmen and other suspects who fled the scene, but they remained at large as of Monday afternoon. They were thought to be hiding in the northern West Bank.
Surveillance camera footage of the attack showed the terrorists driving up to the victims’ car, with one man opening fire from the passenger seat.
The car with the gunmen then made a U-turn on the highway and fled the scene toward Nablus.
The car apparently used by the terrorists was found by Palestinian Authority security forces in Nablus.
Residents of the northern West Bank city claimed the Volkswagen Passat, which has Israeli license plates, was found two days after the attack. The unverified reports said the car was taken by PA officials for inspection.
Images showed the plates matched the car seen in surveillance camera footage shortly after the attack.
Several hours after the deadly shooting, an Arab Israeli man drove his car into a group of tourists near a promenade in Tel Aviv, killing Italian national Alessandro Parini and wounding seven others.
Tensions have soared across the region in recent days, with a rocket attack from Syria on Saturday night, a barrage of rockets from Lebanon on Thursday, tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes over the past week, clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank, and a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria last week.
Times of Israel
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
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