Sgt. Mordechai Tziyada, 21, of Tirat HaCarmel in the north, was buried this afternoon in the Haifa Military Cemetery. He was killed on Friday evening, shortly before the onset of the Sabbath, while he was on a jeep patrol in the northern Shomron PA-controlled city of Jenin. The preliminary investigation indicates that an Arab fired on his jeep from close range in one of the alleyways and ran away. One of the bullets penetrated the reinforced jeep from behind and hit the soldier in the neck - though he was wearing a protective vest and a helmet.



Update on Friday's attack:

The condition of Hila bat [daughter of] Rachel, one of the two Israeli women shot by Palestinian terrorists in western Binyamin, has improved, and her life in no longer considered endangered. She is hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Karem in Jerusalem and underwent emergency surgery on Friday night. A bullet entered her shoulder and hit or nearly hit several critical organs. The driver of the car, Simcha Sophie bat Esther, is hospitalized at Sheba Hospital in Tel HaShomer, listed in serious condition. They were shot as they drove west from Dolev towards N'vei Tzuf. The driver, though seriously injured and handling a car with a punctured tire, managed to make her way to a nearby IDF position.



An Arab terrorist was shot and killed this afternoon after he threw a fragmentation grenade at an IDF patrol in northern Gaza. On the Israeli-Egyptian border, another Arab terrorist was shot and wounded after throwing a similar grenade at Israeli forces. Exchanges of fire continued in the area throughout the early evening hours.



A five-year pursuit has come to an end. Israeli forces in Bethlehem arrested Isa Batat, an Islamic Jihad leader who has been on their most wanted list since 1998, on charges of having been involved in several Jerusalem-area terrorist attacks. Among other terrorists caught today was one who said he planned a suicide attack in the near future.