Terrorist
Posing as IDF Kills Four Students in the Kitchen
Seventeen-year-old
Gavriel Hoter was one of four yeshiva students killed Friday in
Otniel while working in the yeshiva kitchen, serving the Shabbat
meal to some 100 students in the adjacent dining room.
Around 7:30
P.M. Friday, two terrorists from the nearby village of Dura in the
Hebron area infiltrated Otniel, cutting the fence. They wore army
uniforms, carried M-16 rifles, ammunition and hand grenades. The
yeshiva, located a short distance from the fence, is a large, well-lit
building, and the terrorists chose it as their target. About 100
yeshiva students were gathered in the ground-floor dining hall,
waiting for the Friday night Shabbat meal. The two terrorists began
to spray the building with bullets from the outside and one entered
the kitchen via a service entrance. The four unarmed yeshiva students
who were working in the kitchen were killed.
St.-Sgt. Noam
Apter, who was on kitchen duty, managed to lock the door to the
adjoining dining room before he was shot dead, saving the lives
of the students seated at the tables. The two terrorists from the
Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the attack, were
later killed by IDF forces.
Gavriel Hoter
grew up in Kfar Adumim and completed his high school studies at
the yeshiva in Ma’ale Adumim, although his family moved to Alonei
Habashan on the Golan Heights three years ago. A gifted student,
he completed his high school matriculation exams a year ago, and
had almost completed a B.A. through studies at the Open University.
His mother, Eileen, related that he hardly slept at night because
of his constant study. Last summer he began his studies at the yeshiva
at Otniel, in preparation for his upcoming army service. He volunteered
to remain on duty at the yeshiva for Shabbat and to take a friend’s
place in the kitchen and was killed in the attack.
Gavriel Hoter
was buried in Kfar Adumim. He is survived by his parents, Haim and
Eileen, and five brothers and sisters.
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