Condition of injured father of boys slain in Jerusalem terror attack worsens
Avraham Paley transferred from Hadassah Mount Scopus to Ein Kerem sedated and intubated; still unaware 2 sons were killed in car-ramming
The condition of the father of two boys killed in a Palestinian terror attack deteriorated on Monday, the Hadassah hospital reported.
Avraham Paley, who was wounded in the car-ramming attack that killed two of his children in Jerusalem on Friday, was sedated and intubated when he was transferred from Hadassah Medical Center at Mount Scopus to Hadassah Ein Kerem, the hospital said.
While he was initially listed as moderately wounded, the hospital now said his condition was serious but stable. No details were given for the deterioration in his condition.
The two children, Yaakov Yisrael Paley, 5, and his brother, Asher Menahem Paley, 7, were killed by a terrorist who drove a car into the bus stop where they were waiting, in the Ramot neighborhood. Another man, Alter Shlomo Lederman, a 20-year-old yeshiva student who got married two months ago, was also killed.
The father, who has been in hospital since the attack, does not yet know his sons were killed.
The terrorist, identified as Hussein Qaraqa, was shot dead at the scene of the attack.
Eyewitnesses to Friday’s attack said Qaraqa accelerated into a group of Israelis waiting at a bus stop. A senior Israeli official said it was believed he was mentally ill, and that he had been released from a psychiatric hospital in northern Israel only days before.
Avraham’s pregnant wife Devorah said her sons were “happy children, good children who loved to help” during interviews by media outlets on Sunday.
She told the Ynet news site that the two boys and their father had been on their way to a family celebration and were planning to travel by bus, as there was not enough room in the family car for all of them. An older brother was also with them. Her husband, Avraham, had taken the three to the nearby stop at Ramot Junction so that the three boys could catch a bus together.
Avraham and the two younger boys exited the family car and were at the bus stop. Her other son, who was supposed to accompany his brothers on the bus, had not yet joined them when the terrorist’s car slammed into those waiting at the stop.
She said that the oldest son called her to inform her of the attack.
Yaakov Yisrael was confirmed dead at the scene, and his older brother Asher Menahem was critically injured and succumbed to his wounds the next day.
