Two IDF officers were killed last night while trying to apprehend two Palestinian terrorists on the Kisufim Route into Gaza. Around 7 PM, the two were on the way, together with other members of their unit, to an area where the terrorists had been sighted. When they alighted from their jeep to begin the search, one terrorist opened fire and seriously wounded both of them. Other soldiers opened fire and killed the Arab, who was found wearing a uniform and armed with a rifle, three magazines, and shrapnel grenades. The body of the second terrorist was found later, similarly dressed and armed. One of the two soldiers died of his wounds while being treated in the field, and the other died on the way to the hospital.
The two victims are Capt. Haggai Bibi, 24, of Maaleh Adumim, commander of the company (approximately 50 soldiers), and his deputy, Lt. Alex Weissman, 23, of Afula. Both were considered excellent officers. Bibi had "raised a generation of Givati Brigade fighters in Maaleh Adumim," one acquaintance said, and only a month ago signed on for eight more years in the army. "I can't leave my soldiers, they're like my children," he said. Bibi and Weissman, of the close-knit Givat HaMoreh neighborhood in Afula, were close friends. The two of them were buried this afternoon - Capt. Bibi in Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, and Lt. Weissman in Afula.
The loss of both a commander and deputy commander at the same time is a big blow for a company. "It's like losing parents," one soldier said. "I'm sure the other commanders in the battalion will chip in and see how they can help ease this heavy loss."
Army Radio's Razi Barkai, speaking with an IDF commander in the Gaza region this morning, felt that it was important to ask whether he has heard soldiers complain about being stuck out in Gaza. The officer answered, "When we put on our uniforms, we have one goal, and that is to carry out our mission and to win. We don't have the same problems that arise in the public discourse."
Well over 20 suicide attacks have been thwarted throughout Israel in the past several weeks. The last Israeli victims of terrorism were two security guards, who were killed one month ago as they were ending a shift in eastern Jerusalem.
The two victims are Capt. Haggai Bibi, 24, of Maaleh Adumim, commander of the company (approximately 50 soldiers), and his deputy, Lt. Alex Weissman, 23, of Afula. Both were considered excellent officers. Bibi had "raised a generation of Givati Brigade fighters in Maaleh Adumim," one acquaintance said, and only a month ago signed on for eight more years in the army. "I can't leave my soldiers, they're like my children," he said. Bibi and Weissman, of the close-knit Givat HaMoreh neighborhood in Afula, were close friends. The two of them were buried this afternoon - Capt. Bibi in Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, and Lt. Weissman in Afula.
The loss of both a commander and deputy commander at the same time is a big blow for a company. "It's like losing parents," one soldier said. "I'm sure the other commanders in the battalion will chip in and see how they can help ease this heavy loss."
Army Radio's Razi Barkai, speaking with an IDF commander in the Gaza region this morning, felt that it was important to ask whether he has heard soldiers complain about being stuck out in Gaza. The officer answered, "When we put on our uniforms, we have one goal, and that is to carry out our mission and to win. We don't have the same problems that arise in the public discourse."
Well over 20 suicide attacks have been thwarted throughout Israel in the past several weeks. The last Israeli victims of terrorism were two security guards, who were killed one month ago as they were ending a shift in eastern Jerusalem.