11-Year-Old Ayala Shapira Faces Medical Ordeal After Firebomb Attack

By JTA December 28, 2014

Two Palestinian teens were arrested in connection with the firebomb attack on a West Bank road that left an 11-year-old Israeli girl fighting for her life.

The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service said in a statement released Saturday night that the two were arrested Thursday night in the hours following the attack in the village of Azzoun, located next to Maale Shomron, the home of Ayala Shapira, 11, and her father, Avner, of the El Matan outpost, who also was injured in the attack.

One of the arrested teens confessed to throwing the firebomb, according to the IDF.

Ten other Palestinians from the village reportedly were taken in for questioning.

Ayala Shapira, who suffered third-degree burns over most of her body, remained in serious but stable condition on Saturday night, according to reports.

Doctors at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv reportedly operated on her Saturday, the first of many operations that she will require.

“I told her parents the struggle will be long, and the beginning consists of stabilizing her, reviving her, and getting her to a state where we can begin to reconstruct her face,” Prof. Eyal Winkler, director of the Plastic Surgery Department at Sheba Medical Center, told Ynet. “In this kind of situation, hospitalization last two to three months, and facial reconstruction can lost even longer. But we are full of desire to succeed and are optimistic.”

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