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.