JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinian teens were arrested in connection with a firebombing 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 Saturday that the two were arrested Thursday night in the village of Azzoun.
The arrests occurred just hours after the attack that severely injured Ayala Shapira and lightly injured her father, Avner, who live in the nearby outpost of El Matan.
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, 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,” Eyal Winkler, director of the plastic surgery department at Sheba, told Ynet.
“In this kind of situation, hospitalization can last two to three months, and facial reconstruction can last even longer. But we are full of desire to succeed and are optimistic.”
