The family of a British-Israeli woman murdered with her daughters in the West Bank have thanked the Government as they returned to the UK.
Lucy Dee, 48, died three days after her daughters, Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, were shot and killed on April 7.
The family of seven, who moved to Israel from the UK in 2014, had been travelling in separate cars en route to a Passover holiday.
Mrs Dee’s husband Leo Dee is a rabbi, and they have a son and two other daughters.
Richard Shaw, Mrs Dee’s father, and her brothers and sisters, all from the London area, have now returned to the UK to continue observing the Jewish mourning period of Shiva.
In a statement from Mrs Dee’s brother, Benjamin Shaw, made on behalf of both the Dee and Shaw family, he said: “We are devastated by the brutal murder of our dear Lucy, Maia, and Rina.
“Their absence leaves a void in our hearts that can never be filled.
“We are deeply touched by the words of the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, who has shown great compassion in acknowledging our loss.
“We see this as the ‘Cleverly Declaration’, akin to the ‘Balfour Declaration’, establishing that terrorism can never be justified.”
Mr Cleverly had written to Rabbi Dee, offering the family the assistance of the British Government, with his letter stating: “There can be no justification for such senseless and abhorrent violence, and I unequivocally condemn this act of terrorism.”
Rabbi Leo Dee, paying tribute to his wife after her death, described her as an “exceptional human being” who had saved five lives and helped two other people to see by donating her organs.
Mr Dee was formerly the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London.
The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, according to the settlement’s mayor, Oded Revivi.
Mr Dee said he does not hold any hatred towards the Palestinian terrorists believed to be responsible for the attack.
He said: “I don’t hold any hate towards them. The Israeli security forces will do what they usually do which is track them down and bring them to justice, which I think is right because it prevents the next attack that they might do.”
