Two of the three casualties from yesterday\'s tragic terrorist attack in Karmei Tzur were laid to rest at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem this morning. They were St. Sgt. Eyal Sorek, 23, and his wife Yael, 21. Yael was nine-months\' pregnant with their first child. Maj. (res.) Shalom Mordechai, 35, of Nahariyah was also killed in the incident while taking part in the gun battle with the two terrorists, and he will be buried this afternoon; he is survived by his wife and two sons, Shaked, 9, and Ro\'i, 5. One of the murderers, who infiltrated the southern Gush Etzion community dressed as IDF soldiers, was killed, while the second escaped.
The attacked occurred shortly before 3 AM yesterday morning, when the two Palestinian murderers entered the new Tzur Shalom neighborhood of Karmei Tzur - named for Dr. Shmuel Gillis who was murdered over a year ago by a terrorists - and began firing at residents sleeping in their caravans (mobile homes without wheels). The M-16 and Kalachnikov rifle gunfire, which could have easily penetrated the corrugated walls of the homes, killed Eyal Sorek, an elite unit combat fighter, when he came to the door to fire back, and his wife when she came to help him. One of the terrorists was finally felled by the commander of the IDF reserve unit that arrived on the scene, but not before the three Israelis were killed and five others wounded. It was reported that the commander later found three bullet holes in his uniform and helmet, one of which grazed his head.
The second terrorist fled to the nearby PLO-controlled town of Halhoul, which IDF troops then entered. They took several Arabs in for questioning during their ensuing house-to-house search. After finding many grenades and much ammunition on the body of the dead terrorist, army sources said that though the attack was grave, it could have been far worse.
Yael, nee Kandel, grew up in Kfar Pines, performed a year of national service in Eilat, and was studying to be a math teacher. She was due to give birth in a matter of days. Her father, Yehuda, was informed of the tragedy yesterday morning, but did not tell his wife or family until after the Sabbath had ended. At the funeral today, Yehuda, who was awarded a medal for his bravery in the Ammunition Hill battle in Jerusalem in the Six Day War, asked the mourners to join him in singing mournfully, \"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.\"
Eyal Sorek, originally of Kfar Adumim south of Jericho, was to be discharged from the army this week. He studied in the pre-military yeshiva in Atzmona and had volunteered to sign on for an extra six months of army service. He and his wife are the 14th husband-and-wife couple to be murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 20-month-old Oslo War. In the words of one of those who eulogized them at their funeral today, \"When Eyal heard the shots, he immediately took his weapon and went out to fight them. When he was hit, Yael went out - probably to care for him - and she was shot as well. And not only did they show strength and courage in their death, but they also lived their lives that way...\"
Malky Zonnenfeld, spokesperson of the South Mt. Hevron Regional Council, told Israel Radio last night, \"The media keep asking whether there was a fence around the neighborhood or not, or whether there was a guard or not, and the like. These are all just excuses, designed to make people feel better so that they can say, \'We have a fence so it won\'t happen to us.\' But this is just not true. There is only one reason why there are attacks, and it has nothing to do with fences: It is because there is an evil Palestinian Authority, and it has to be defeated, period.\"
The attacked occurred shortly before 3 AM yesterday morning, when the two Palestinian murderers entered the new Tzur Shalom neighborhood of Karmei Tzur - named for Dr. Shmuel Gillis who was murdered over a year ago by a terrorists - and began firing at residents sleeping in their caravans (mobile homes without wheels). The M-16 and Kalachnikov rifle gunfire, which could have easily penetrated the corrugated walls of the homes, killed Eyal Sorek, an elite unit combat fighter, when he came to the door to fire back, and his wife when she came to help him. One of the terrorists was finally felled by the commander of the IDF reserve unit that arrived on the scene, but not before the three Israelis were killed and five others wounded. It was reported that the commander later found three bullet holes in his uniform and helmet, one of which grazed his head.
The second terrorist fled to the nearby PLO-controlled town of Halhoul, which IDF troops then entered. They took several Arabs in for questioning during their ensuing house-to-house search. After finding many grenades and much ammunition on the body of the dead terrorist, army sources said that though the attack was grave, it could have been far worse.
Yael, nee Kandel, grew up in Kfar Pines, performed a year of national service in Eilat, and was studying to be a math teacher. She was due to give birth in a matter of days. Her father, Yehuda, was informed of the tragedy yesterday morning, but did not tell his wife or family until after the Sabbath had ended. At the funeral today, Yehuda, who was awarded a medal for his bravery in the Ammunition Hill battle in Jerusalem in the Six Day War, asked the mourners to join him in singing mournfully, \"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.\"
Eyal Sorek, originally of Kfar Adumim south of Jericho, was to be discharged from the army this week. He studied in the pre-military yeshiva in Atzmona and had volunteered to sign on for an extra six months of army service. He and his wife are the 14th husband-and-wife couple to be murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 20-month-old Oslo War. In the words of one of those who eulogized them at their funeral today, \"When Eyal heard the shots, he immediately took his weapon and went out to fight them. When he was hit, Yael went out - probably to care for him - and she was shot as well. And not only did they show strength and courage in their death, but they also lived their lives that way...\"
Malky Zonnenfeld, spokesperson of the South Mt. Hevron Regional Council, told Israel Radio last night, \"The media keep asking whether there was a fence around the neighborhood or not, or whether there was a guard or not, and the like. These are all just excuses, designed to make people feel better so that they can say, \'We have a fence so it won\'t happen to us.\' But this is just not true. There is only one reason why there are attacks, and it has nothing to do with fences: It is because there is an evil Palestinian Authority, and it has to be defeated, period.\"