Six Israelis were murdered this afternoon in a terrorist shooting attack in an area of the country that until now had been considered relatively safe: northwest Israel, near the city of Shlomi. Seven people were wounded, including two in moderate condition.
Around 12:40 PM, a cell of two or three terrorists suddenly opened fire from a hilltop banana grove at a school bus, a truck, and several cars driving along the north-south road from Kabri to Kibbutz Metzubah in the western Galilee. Arutz-7\'s Kobi Finkler reported that many police, army, and medical forces arrived on the scene, but that the continuing gunfire hampered their efforts. The forces were finally able to finally kill two terrorists, and continued to seek a third one for several hours afterwards. The residents of Shlomi and Metzubah were ordered to remain inside their homes throughout the duration, all roads were closed, and many young pupils were still in school at 6 PM. The terrorists came very well equipped: flak jackets, Kalachnikov rifles, many cartridges, and more. According to one report, they were seen in the area wearing IDF uniforms four hours before the attack. The Education Ministry announced that all students on school trips in the north were safe.
It is now assumed, though without certainty, that the terrorists did not cross from Lebanon into Israel, but were rather driven to the area from Israel or the PA-controlled areas; local residents said that it is not likely that they would have reached that specific area without help from Israeli-Arabs. Heavy Hizbullah cooperation in the massacre is also suspected. About an hour before the deadly attack, a senior IDF officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hizbullah was planning a large terrorist attack on the northern border. Hizbullah terrorists have fired eleven times at Israeli targets in the past weeks.
In a second incident around the same time - also in the north, some 70 kilometers to the east - shots were fired at a busload of tourists near N\'vei Ativ in the northern Golan; no one was hurt. Residents in Kiryat Shmonah, in the central sector of the northern border region, were also ordered to stay in their homes this afternoon, for fear that another attack was planned.
Around 12:40 PM, a cell of two or three terrorists suddenly opened fire from a hilltop banana grove at a school bus, a truck, and several cars driving along the north-south road from Kabri to Kibbutz Metzubah in the western Galilee. Arutz-7\'s Kobi Finkler reported that many police, army, and medical forces arrived on the scene, but that the continuing gunfire hampered their efforts. The forces were finally able to finally kill two terrorists, and continued to seek a third one for several hours afterwards. The residents of Shlomi and Metzubah were ordered to remain inside their homes throughout the duration, all roads were closed, and many young pupils were still in school at 6 PM. The terrorists came very well equipped: flak jackets, Kalachnikov rifles, many cartridges, and more. According to one report, they were seen in the area wearing IDF uniforms four hours before the attack. The Education Ministry announced that all students on school trips in the north were safe.
It is now assumed, though without certainty, that the terrorists did not cross from Lebanon into Israel, but were rather driven to the area from Israel or the PA-controlled areas; local residents said that it is not likely that they would have reached that specific area without help from Israeli-Arabs. Heavy Hizbullah cooperation in the massacre is also suspected. About an hour before the deadly attack, a senior IDF officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hizbullah was planning a large terrorist attack on the northern border. Hizbullah terrorists have fired eleven times at Israeli targets in the past weeks.
In a second incident around the same time - also in the north, some 70 kilometers to the east - shots were fired at a busload of tourists near N\'vei Ativ in the northern Golan; no one was hurt. Residents in Kiryat Shmonah, in the central sector of the northern border region, were also ordered to stay in their homes this afternoon, for fear that another attack was planned.