The IDF continues pounding PA targets throughout Judea, Samaria, and Gaza as Israel buries five more of its sons today - 18-year-olds brutally murdered late last night by an Arab terrorist in Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip.
A 19-year-old terrorist from Gaza crossed through two fences into the Gush Katif community of Atzmonah shortly before midnight and entered the pre-military yeshiva (religious academy) there. The students, who were taking part in a Torah lecture at the time, heard explosions and gunfire; they turned off the lights and lay down on the floor. The terrorist then entered the yeshiva, spraying gunfire and throwing grenades at the unarmed students. Five of them were killed and 24 others were wounded, including three seriously.
The terrorist\'s father said today he hoped his other six sons would go in the same path as their brother. The mosques near the Gush Katif communities are playing joyous music on their loudspeakers.
The five youths who were killed are Tal Kurtzweil, 18, from Bnei Brak, who was laid to rest this morning in the Segulah cemetery in Petach Tikvah; Asher Marcus, Ariel Zana, and Eran Pekar, all 18 and all of Jerusalem, who will be laid to rest today in three consecutive funerals in the city\'s Har HaMenuchot cemetery; and Arik Krugliak, 18, whose funeral will be held early this afternoon in his hometown of Beit El.
The yeshiva in Atzmonah, one of the southern-most Jewish communities in Gaza, is a one-year post-high school program in which students prepare for their army service while studying Torah. Many of the graduates serve in the most elite of the IDF’s units, and three of its graduates passed the latest Israel Air Force pilots\' course three months ago. A representative of the yeshiva said that demand to study there is so great that hundreds of applicants must be rejected each year.
At least two other terrorist attacks were thwarted last night by the alertness of Israeli soldiers and civilians, one in Elon Moreh in the Shomron and one in Pardes Chana.
A 19-year-old terrorist from Gaza crossed through two fences into the Gush Katif community of Atzmonah shortly before midnight and entered the pre-military yeshiva (religious academy) there. The students, who were taking part in a Torah lecture at the time, heard explosions and gunfire; they turned off the lights and lay down on the floor. The terrorist then entered the yeshiva, spraying gunfire and throwing grenades at the unarmed students. Five of them were killed and 24 others were wounded, including three seriously.
The terrorist\'s father said today he hoped his other six sons would go in the same path as their brother. The mosques near the Gush Katif communities are playing joyous music on their loudspeakers.
The five youths who were killed are Tal Kurtzweil, 18, from Bnei Brak, who was laid to rest this morning in the Segulah cemetery in Petach Tikvah; Asher Marcus, Ariel Zana, and Eran Pekar, all 18 and all of Jerusalem, who will be laid to rest today in three consecutive funerals in the city\'s Har HaMenuchot cemetery; and Arik Krugliak, 18, whose funeral will be held early this afternoon in his hometown of Beit El.
The yeshiva in Atzmonah, one of the southern-most Jewish communities in Gaza, is a one-year post-high school program in which students prepare for their army service while studying Torah. Many of the graduates serve in the most elite of the IDF’s units, and three of its graduates passed the latest Israel Air Force pilots\' course three months ago. A representative of the yeshiva said that demand to study there is so great that hundreds of applicants must be rejected each year.
At least two other terrorist attacks were thwarted last night by the alertness of Israeli soldiers and civilians, one in Elon Moreh in the Shomron and one in Pardes Chana.