Israeli soldiers murdered in car terror attack. Israeli Soldiers. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
It has been violent four days in Israel. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and two more were injured in what is being described as a “deliberate” Palestinian car ramming attack on Friday as Israelis prepared for the Sabbath, just one day after explosive devices were set off along the Gaza Strip security fence. And then the day after the car attack, another improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at the Gaza fence, and a day later a security guard was stabbed in Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld on Twitter reported sadly that the guard later died from severe injuries. The IDF Spokesperson’s Twitter feed reported that no one was reportedly injured by the Thursday or Saturday Gaza blasts. Tragically, the car ramming on Friday—like the stabbing on Sunday—was deadly.
The IDF Spokesperson tweeted that the murdered soldiers—one an officer in the IDF—were attacked by a Palestinian terrorist while they were “securing routes” near an Israeli community in the Samaria region. The ramming terrorist was injured and hospitalized. Israeli Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Ofir Gendelman cited the Israel Security Agency (ISA) as confirming that it wasn’t an accident.
Gendelman tweeted that the 26-year-old Palestinian terrorist Alaa Kabaha “said during his interrogation that it was a deliberate terror attack. The investigation about the attack is on going.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack an act of murder and expressed his condolences to the families of victims.
“From the depths of my heart, I send condolences to the families of the IDF officer and soldier who were murdered yesterday by a reprehensible terrorist and my best wishes for a quick recovery to the wounded,” said Netanyahu in comments released by his office. Regarding the terrorist, Netanyahu said they would “deal with him to the fullest extent of the law.”
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin highlighted the religious significance of the tragedy, noting it occurred “as the Sabbath began on Friday afternoon” and that throughout the Sabbath day their prayers were with the families.
“May all the security forces be strengthened, operating in all arenas—in the field and in intelligence—to investigate those who perpetrated and assisted in the attack,” said Rivlin in the statement released by his office on Saturday night. “We will not rest until we bring all those who cooperate with terror to justice, we will not allow terror to become an accepted norm.”
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said on Twitter on Friday that the terrorist’s brother had been apprehended and separately noted on Twitter that Israel had “cancelled employment and trade permits belonging to the assailant’s family.”
Meanwhile, Conricus also tweeted that the wounded IDF soldiers were in surgery, while the terrorist was also in an Israeli hospital.
One day after that attack in the northern region of Israel, there was more violence along the security fence bordering the Gaza Strip. Tweeted Conricus, “Another (!) IED on the Gaza strip fence explodes. No casualties. IDF responded with striking a Hamas military observation post.”
This followed multiple such blasts last Thursday, according to a Twitter post from the IDF Spokesperson. After the latest attack, the Twitter feed noted, “The IDF will continue to operate for the safety of Israeli civilians, by all means at its disposal. The Hamas terror organization is held accountable for all occurrences in and from the Gaza Strip.”
As for the stabbing attack on Sunday, Rosenfeld tweeted that the attack took place in the Old City of Jerusalem and that the “terrorist with knife” was shot after the attack. President Rivlin, in comments released from his office, said following the stabbing, “The terror on the streets of Jerusalem, our capital, where Jews and Arabs have lived together for hundreds of years, is a great disaster for all its inhabitants, and we will not allow it to become an existing reality. We will fight against terror and we will overcome.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastudpate.com, March 18, 2018)