Another soldier - David Deri, 20, of Arad - was killed late this afternoon in a battle with Palestinian terrorists at Rachel\'s Tomb. IDF soldiers were attacked by terrorist forces and are returning heavy machinegun fire. Deri took a bullet to the chest and was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital, where he died on the operating table. The Tunnels Highway between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion was closed for approximately an hour because of the battle.
St.-Sgt. Yaakov Krenchel, the reserve soldier who was killed last night by a Palestinian terrorist sniper while performing guard duty, was buried this afternoon in the military cemetery in Nahariya. Krenchel, 23, was at his guard post at the outskirts of the village of Salim - east of Shechem, between Itamar and Elon Moreh - when the terrorist\'s precisely aimed bullet hit him in the head.
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, the rabbi of Elon Moreh, told Arutz-7 today the history of that particular guard post: \"The village of Salim has long been very troublesome for us, the source of shooting attacks and the like against Jewish motorists. For a long time, we exerted moral pressure, the only kind we have, on the army to put up an outpost to protect us. Finally, two months ago, the army decided to do it, and took over a house on the outskirts of Salim. But it was in a very bad place - there was no way to get there by road, etc. Last night, a sniper shot one bullet and hit Yaakov Krenchel in the head... The army is of course combing the area and looking for the terrorist - but it\'s like searching for a needle in a haystack. In a war, you don\'t just look for the terrorist that shot; you must take the initiative… This is not the approach that we expected from Ariel Sharon. Almost everything is the same as it was before - maybe 1% has changed...\"
The father of one of the soldiers serving at the outpost told Arutz-7 today that the soldiers had been asking for certain improvements in the outpost - \"and one of them, a special camouflage netting, could have saved the soldier\'s life...\" Arutz-7\'s Haggai Huberman reports, however, that such a claim cannot be determined absolutely. Another of the precautions that the soldiers at the Salim outpost had requested was a road, instead of the footpath they must use to reach the site. This morning, the IDF began paving a road to the outpost.
St.-Sgt. Yaakov Krenchel, the reserve soldier who was killed last night by a Palestinian terrorist sniper while performing guard duty, was buried this afternoon in the military cemetery in Nahariya. Krenchel, 23, was at his guard post at the outskirts of the village of Salim - east of Shechem, between Itamar and Elon Moreh - when the terrorist\'s precisely aimed bullet hit him in the head.
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, the rabbi of Elon Moreh, told Arutz-7 today the history of that particular guard post: \"The village of Salim has long been very troublesome for us, the source of shooting attacks and the like against Jewish motorists. For a long time, we exerted moral pressure, the only kind we have, on the army to put up an outpost to protect us. Finally, two months ago, the army decided to do it, and took over a house on the outskirts of Salim. But it was in a very bad place - there was no way to get there by road, etc. Last night, a sniper shot one bullet and hit Yaakov Krenchel in the head... The army is of course combing the area and looking for the terrorist - but it\'s like searching for a needle in a haystack. In a war, you don\'t just look for the terrorist that shot; you must take the initiative… This is not the approach that we expected from Ariel Sharon. Almost everything is the same as it was before - maybe 1% has changed...\"
The father of one of the soldiers serving at the outpost told Arutz-7 today that the soldiers had been asking for certain improvements in the outpost - \"and one of them, a special camouflage netting, could have saved the soldier\'s life...\" Arutz-7\'s Haggai Huberman reports, however, that such a claim cannot be determined absolutely. Another of the precautions that the soldiers at the Salim outpost had requested was a road, instead of the footpath they must use to reach the site. This morning, the IDF began paving a road to the outpost.