Israel reached a sobering milestone on Monday when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on and killed an Israeli mother — identified as 40-year-old mother of three and kindergarten teacher Batsheva Nigri — while driving with her young daughter who was miraculously spared injury in the backseat. She was also, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the 34th Israeli citizen to be killed in terror attacks so far this year.
This tragic attack, according to FDD, makes 2023 Israel's deadliest year for terrorism since the second intifada took place in the early 2000s. For context, in all of 2022, FDD says 33 Israelis were killed by terrorists.
More from FDD's latest report:
A Palestinian terrorist opened fire against Israelis driving near the city of Hebron today, killing an Israeli mother and critically injuring an Israeli man. The woman’s six-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the car, remained unharmed. According to preliminary reports, the terrorist cut off the Israeli car on Route 60 and fired over 20 rounds after the vehicle slowed down. The Israel Defense Forces swiftly responded, setting up security blockades in the vicinity and initiating a manhunt for the perpetrator. Palestinians in Gaza celebrated the death of the Israeli woman by handing out sweets on the streets of Radha.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the attack on Monday night and reiterated how Israel is "in the middle of a terror attack that is encouraged, guided and funded by Iran and its satellite states."
One woman declared dead and another civilian critically injured after a tragic shooting attack on Route 60, adjacent to Hebron.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 21, 2023
The injured civilian is currently receiving medical treatment.
IDF soldiers are pursuing the suspects and blockades are set up in the area. pic.twitter.com/H9mAvrOraV
This writer was recently in Israel with FDD, and in Tel Aviv two days after an August 5 terrorist attack claimed the life of a municipal security officer — a 42-year-old husband and father of three named Chen Amir — whose partner's quick action prevented a presumed larger attack in Israel's second-largest city near cafes which were bustling with customers on a Saturday evening near the city's center. The terrorist who was killed in the exchange of gunfire had a "martyr" note pinned to him, and he was subsequently identified by Israeli officials as a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Jenin Brigade operating out of the West Bank.
That attack, however, like the others before and since then, did not dampen the lively atmosphere of the city by the time our group arrived some 48 hours after the attack. While the reaction from Israelis continues to be a bravely admirable defiance of terrorism's intended consequence, much of the rest of the world continues to ignore the ongoing and escalating attacks against innocent Israeli citizens by organized terror groups — the likes of which would never be considered an acceptable norm elsewhere.
"No country would tolerate terrorists regularly gunning down its civilians," noted FDD's CEO Mark Dubowitz, "but somehow, Palestinian terrorists get a free pass from an international community that refuses to hold them and their leadership responsible for this ongoing senseless slaughter. Palestinians would be celebrating decades-long anniversaries of an independent state if they had chosen co-existence over violence," Dubowitz remarked.
The escalation of attacks follows an apparent embrace of new tactics, as the senior director of FDD's Israel Program Enia Krivine observed. "Palestinian terrorists have adopted a new tactic of gunning down innocent Israelis as they drive their cars in the West Bank, murdering several Israelis this way in 2023, including an American citizen," she explained. "Today, Israelis living in Judea and Samaria must weigh the safety of their family as they carry out everyday errands in their communities."