Authorities allowed for publication Sunday afternoon the information that 56-year-old Yitzchak Sela of Be'er Sheva was the driver of the otherwise empty bus that was blown up by a suicide bomber during Thursday afternoon's terror attacks along the Israeli-Egyptian border, north of Eilat. The 55-year-old father of four and grandfather of three was listed as missing for three days due to the severe damage to his body, which was only identified on Sunday. Hundreds of people participated in his funeral, Sunday evening.
Sela was one of eight Israelis murdered in the attacks. A prior bus carrying IDF soldiers heading to Eilat on leave from Mitzpe Ramon was also attacked in an ambush by three terrorists firing automatic weapons on Route 12 barely half an hour prior to Sela's murder.
The disclosure came following the funerals for Kfar Sava residents Moshe and Flora Gaz, Flora's sister Shulamit Karlinsky and Shulamit's husband Dov, whose car was hit by an anti-tank missile. After the missile hit his target, a terrorist approached the car and fired on the four at close range to make sure they had all been slain.
On Friday, Yosef Levy of Holon was laid to rest. He and his wife Esther were ambushed by terrorists who sprayed the car with gunfire, hitting both passengers and causing the vehicle to overturn. In this case, terrorists fired at the car from up close to "confirm the kill." Esther managed to remain still for an hour as IDF soldiers engaged the terrorists and a gun battle ensued.
Funerals were also held Friday for 22-year-old Staff Sergeant Moshe Naftali of the Binyamin Jewish community of Ofra, who was killed when terrorists attacked his unit as it went to assist a bus that had been fired upon, and decorated counter-terrorism officer Pascal Avrahami of Jerusalem, who was killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists on Thursday evening north of Eilat, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz were holding a news briefing on the earlier attacks.