The father of two British-Israeli sisters shot dead in the occupied West Bank has broken down at their funeral as he paid tribute to his “beautiful angels” while their grief-stricken siblings sobbed as they clutched their wrapped bodies.
Maia and Rina Dee, reportedly aged 20 and 15 respectively, were killed when their car was attacked by Palestinian assailants near an Israeli settlement on Friday.
Their 45-year-old mother, Lucy Dee, was seriously wounded and is in a coma, while their father, Rabbi Leo Dee, witnessed the attack from a separate vehicle following behind and was unharmed.
Image: (L-R) Maia and Rina Dee were killed in a shooting in the West Bank
Image: Their siblings sobbed during the funeral. Pic: AP
Rabbi Dee, who has three other children, spoke of his hopes that his wife would come out of her coma and asked: “How will I explain to Lucy what has happened to our two precious gifts?”
In tribute to “beautiful and perfect” Maia at a cemetery in the Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion in the West Bank, the rabbi said: “You were always an angel and now you will always be our guardian angel.”
He also said: “You wanted to sign up for another year of national service, where you could really make a difference. But mummy and I wanted you to start your studies and maybe meet a special boy.
“But you insisted that girls like you always do two years of volunteering so we waited to see what and where this would be.”
Then turning to his “beautiful and darling” Rina, he said: “You were such a great student. Such a great friend.”
“You dreamt of travelling the world, now you are travelling to heaven.”
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Image: Maia and Rina Dee’s siblings clutched their bodies at the funeral
At the al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians prayed on Sunday.
Hundreds of Jewish people also visited the holy site under heavy police guard as Palestinians protested, directing whistles and religious chants at them. But the episode generally passed off without incident.
The compound – sacred to both Muslims and Jews – has been at the centre of a security crisis which erupted last Wednesday when Israeli police raided the mosque to clear what they said were youths barricaded inside armed with rocks and fireworks.
Ron Dermer, who is Israel’s strategic affairs minister, has defended the police’s actions, telling Sky News: “The people who had barricaded themselves into the al Aqsa mosque were going to attack those people outside and they were violent.
“The police basically were forced to go in to try to remove them to allow the Muslims who were praying in the morning to go into the mosque.”
Meanwhile, a north London rabbi says his community is feeling a “sense of pain and grief” after the West Bank killings.
Rabbi Dee was the senior rabbi at Radlett United Synagogue in Hertfordshire from 2011-2014 and assistant rabbi in Hendon, north London, from 2008-2011.
Mordechai Ginsbury, senior rabbi at Hendon United Synagogue, who has kept in contact with the family since they moved back to Israel in 2014, said he was feeling “absolute devastation, pain, grief and shock” following the tragedy.
He said the Dees are the “nicest, loveliest people” and he was “so, so sorry”.
Image: Mordechai Ginsbury, senior rabbi at Hendon United Synagogue
Rabbi Ginsbury added: “To think that in a few moments, so senselessly and painfully, this has happened, such a tragic loss of life, of goodness, is just devastating.”
Recalling the time they spent in the UK, Rabbi Ginsbury said: “They used to come to us at home. They were just a delightful family, full of commitment, vigour, passion, energy, and they did wonderful things for us in the community.”
He said he spoke to Rabbi Dee last night and “one of the things that is sustaining him is the blanket of warmth and love which is enveloping them within Israel and around the world”.
Rabbi Ginsbury said he was planning to hold a service of psalms and prayers on Sunday evening for people who “want to express their sense of pain, grief and solidarity with the Dees and with all the good and positive values that we, as Jewish people, stand for across the world and in Israel”.
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Israel launches strikes on Syria
The shooting near the Hamra settlement – about 30 miles north of Jerusalem – came after Israel launched retaliatory air strikes at Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Image: Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Image: Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
The police watchdog says it is investigating after a teenager who was tasered by an officer on a motorway was fatally hit by a car.
Logan Smith, 18, was being taken to hospital in an ambulance at about 11pm on Sunday when the vehicle stopped on the hard shoulder of the M5 in Somerset.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the vehicle stopped on the northbound carriageway “due to the concerns of ambulance staff”.
Mr Smith got out of the ambulance near the junction for Weston-super-Mare and “entered the live lanes of the motorway”, the watchdog added.
Police were called and an officer arrived at the scene, with bodycam footage showing the officer discharging their Taser, causing the teenager to fall to the ground.
“Soon afterwards” Mr Smith was struck by a car travelling on the southbound carriageway, the IOPC said.
The watchdog said it was investigating the “actions and decisions taken by Avon and Somerset Police prior to the death of a teenager”.
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with Logan’s family and friends and everyone affected by this shocking and tragic incident.
“We want to reassure everyone that we will independently investigate all the circumstances surrounding this incident, including the use of a Taser.
“After being notified by the force, we sent our investigators to the police post incident procedure to begin gathering evidence.
“We have taken initial accounts from the officer and ambulance staff involved.
“We met with Logan’s family on Tuesday, to give our condolences, explain our role and to provide some further detail about our investigation, including a Taser being discharged during the incident.
“We will continue to keep them updated and they request that their privacy be respected at such a difficult time.”
The coroner has been informed and formal identification and a post-mortem have taken place.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
Image: North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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