Six Israelis Killed in Palestinian Terror
Attack, Israel Closes Checkpoints
(IFM) Six Israeli civilians were killed and four were wounded,
two of them seriously, in a terrorist attack at the Karni crossing
into the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio, Kol Yisrael, reported. Four
of the dead were employees of the Israel Ports Authority working
at the crossing and the two others were truck drivers. Three of
the dead were residents of the western Negev town of Sderot: Dror
Gizri, Herzl Shlomo, 51, and Ivan Shmilov, 54, were buried at
the Sderot cemetery this afternoon. The other two people killed
are Munam Abu Sabia, 33, from Daboriya, and Ibrahim Kahili, 46,
from Umm al-Ghanem. Four Israelis were wounded in the attack,
three seriously. They were evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center
in Be’er Sheva.
The attack
started at around 10:30PM Thursday last when Palestinians fired
mortar and hit the back of a building used for security checks
on goods transiting through the crossing. A few moments later
a large bomb containing some 150 kilograms of explosives went
off next to the dividing wall separating the Israeli and Palestinian
sides of the crossing. The explosion cut a hole into the wall
allowing three terrorists to cross over into the Israeli side
and open fire on the people present there, killing six of them.
Soldiers and security guards at the scene returned fire, killing
the three terrorists.
Hamas, Fatah’s
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Resistance Committees
claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack.
In response
to the attack, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz and IDF Chief of
Staff Moshe Ya’alon announced Israel was immediately closing the
three checkpoints connecting the Gaza Strip to Israel and Egypt
until the Palestinians take steps to fight terrorism.