The man suspected of murdering a pregnant Israeli woman as she travelled to give birth has been killed, the IDF has confirmed.
Tzeela Gez, 30, was en route to give birth to her fourth child when a gunman opened fire on her car as it passed by last week.
An IDF spokesperson confirmed that it had detained several men believed to be involved in the murder during raids in the West Bank.
During the operation, one suspect was “identified running toward the forces while holding a backpack suspected of being booby-trapped”.
“In response to the immediate threat, the soldiers eliminated [the man],” the spokesperson added.
Gez, who lived in the West Bank settlement of Bruchin, later succumbed to her injuries in hospital, while her baby son was delivered via emergency caesarean.
The infant, who remains in serious condition, was transferred to Schneider Children’s Medical Centre at the Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva.
Gez’s husband, Hananel, who was driving the car at the time of the attack, was lightly injured.
The murder caused outrage in Israel, with President Herzog condemning it as “a criminal act of terror that chills every heart”.
However, a row also broke out at her funeral last week when her sister accused a settler leader of politicising the tragedy.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan had called for more protection from the Israeli state and the destruction of the nearby Palestinian village, from which the suspects were believed to originate, when Gez’s sister Shaked cut him off.
"I don’t want politics,” she cried, adding: “I want love for my sister! Let us finish with love for my sister!”
Dagan attempted to calm her, but she eventually asked him to leave the podium, cutting his speech short.
