\"Blood mixes with blood\" [Hosea 4,2]. Residents of the Gush Etzion city of Efrat, south of Jerusalem, set off this afternoon for the funeral of this morning\'s terror victim - and themselves fell victims to murderous terrorist fire. The security officer of the Shomron Regional Council, Gilad Zar, was murdered this morning by Arafat\'s Fatah agents. Zar was pronounced dead on the scene after Arabs shot two rounds of fire at his car on the southern Shechem bypass road, between Kedumim and Yitzhar. Some forty bullet casings were found near the car. The attack occurred near the Arab village of Kafr Jit, and the killers apparently escaped into Shechem. Although Zar traveled in a clearly recognizable security vehicle, Brig.-Gen. Benny Ganz, Commander of IDF forces in Judea and Samaria, says there is no sign that the terrorists had specifically targeted him.
The victim, Gilad Zar, had been seriously wounded in a similar attack just over two months ago. A resident of Itamar, he leaves behind eight children. His father, Moshe Zar, is one of the pioneer settlers of the Shomron. The Yesha Council called upon all residents of Judea and Samaria to close their businesses and schools this afternoon and participate in the funeral, which departed this afternoon from the plaza outside the Prime Minister\'s Officer in Jerusalem. Government ministers Ze\'evi and Lieberman, Yesha Council head Uri Ariel and others eulogized him. The Council chose the site as a way of showing its extreme anger at the government for the series of murders. The Yesha Council holds the government responsible for three things: its dangerous policy of restraint, the diplomatic activities of the last few days, and finally - the scheduled security meetings tonight. \"In the morning they shoot, and in the evening they sit with us,\" the Council statement said.
In response to the murder, the IDF imposed an encirclement, which is a near-total closure, on villages in the Shechem area while it searches for suspects.
Assaf Yitzchaki of Karnei Shomron, head of Firefighting and Rescue Services there, was one of the first people on the murder scene today. Later asked by Arutz-7 to say a few words about his friend Gilad Zar, Yitzchaki said:
\"Who am I to speak about such a person? Gilad was a man of accomplishments in the Shomron, one of the pillars of the Shomron region, in many aspects - security, helping others, morale. I visited him in the hospital after he was wounded two months ago, and he was happy and optimistic, and insisted on returning to work even though he hadn\'t completely recovered. The terrorists had good reason to try to get him...\"
The victim, Gilad Zar, had been seriously wounded in a similar attack just over two months ago. A resident of Itamar, he leaves behind eight children. His father, Moshe Zar, is one of the pioneer settlers of the Shomron. The Yesha Council called upon all residents of Judea and Samaria to close their businesses and schools this afternoon and participate in the funeral, which departed this afternoon from the plaza outside the Prime Minister\'s Officer in Jerusalem. Government ministers Ze\'evi and Lieberman, Yesha Council head Uri Ariel and others eulogized him. The Council chose the site as a way of showing its extreme anger at the government for the series of murders. The Yesha Council holds the government responsible for three things: its dangerous policy of restraint, the diplomatic activities of the last few days, and finally - the scheduled security meetings tonight. \"In the morning they shoot, and in the evening they sit with us,\" the Council statement said.
In response to the murder, the IDF imposed an encirclement, which is a near-total closure, on villages in the Shechem area while it searches for suspects.
Assaf Yitzchaki of Karnei Shomron, head of Firefighting and Rescue Services there, was one of the first people on the murder scene today. Later asked by Arutz-7 to say a few words about his friend Gilad Zar, Yitzchaki said:
\"Who am I to speak about such a person? Gilad was a man of accomplishments in the Shomron, one of the pillars of the Shomron region, in many aspects - security, helping others, morale. I visited him in the hospital after he was wounded two months ago, and he was happy and optimistic, and insisted on returning to work even though he hadn\'t completely recovered. The terrorists had good reason to try to get him...\"