Hundreds of IDF soldiers resumed the search this morning for the remains of soldiers who were killed in the blast of their armed personnel carrier on Wednesday in southern Gaza. The searching soldiers, in lines of ten, are crawling in the sand, combing the area for anything that could prove to be the remainder of their friends. The search is taking place on both sides of the Israeli-Egyptian border, as the force of the blast scattered pieces hundreds of meters in all directions.
Military correspondent Danny Shalom of HaTzofeh newspaper noted that Egypt's approval for Israeli searchers to enter Egypt was "given, ridiculously enough, by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - who is no less responsible than the terrorists for the smuggling of explosives into Gaza." Israel has often blamed Egypt for "not doing enough" to stop the smuggling from Egypt to Gaza.
Palestinian terrorists fired at the Israelis engaged in searching for their comrades, and other Israeli forces returned effective fire; between 12 and 16 terrorists were killed.
IDF Chief Rabbi Col. Yisrael Weiss said today that the search for the remains would continue even on the Sabbath. He explained that it was a matter of "saving lives," for if the forces were to abandon the area for the Sabbath, "the terrorists would return, and our soldiers would be returning to a very different and more dangerous situation on Sunday morning."
Significant remains of three soldiers killed in the blast have been identified, and they will be buried today. Corp. Elad Cohen, 20, will be laid to rest in Mt. Herzl, Sgt. Lior Vishinsky, 20, will be buried in Ramat Gan, and Sgt. Eiman Gadir, 24, will be laid to rest in his Bedouin village of Bir al-Mahsir. The two other soldiers killed in the attack were Lt. Aviv Hakani, 23, from Ashdod, and Sgt. Zohar Smeilov, 20, of Ofakim.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said today that ambulances of the United Nations Relief Works Association (UNRWA) had taken remains of soldiers killed in Tuesday's attack to PA-controlled areas. Arab residents of Gaza were filmed gleefully holding and playing with body parts shortly after the attack on Tuesday morning. Though the PA later returned some of the remains, Mofaz demands that UN Secretary-General relate to the fact that representatives of the world body facilitated the abuse of Israeli corpses.
Mofaz said that it is inspiring "to see IDF soldiers turning over every granule of sand in order to bring their comrades to burial - as opposed to the inhumanity of the Palestinians in their abuse of the IDF soldiers and in their use of ambulances of the UN and UNRWA to bring body parts to their side. This shows who we're dealing with."
Military correspondent Danny Shalom of HaTzofeh newspaper noted that Egypt's approval for Israeli searchers to enter Egypt was "given, ridiculously enough, by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - who is no less responsible than the terrorists for the smuggling of explosives into Gaza." Israel has often blamed Egypt for "not doing enough" to stop the smuggling from Egypt to Gaza.
Palestinian terrorists fired at the Israelis engaged in searching for their comrades, and other Israeli forces returned effective fire; between 12 and 16 terrorists were killed.
IDF Chief Rabbi Col. Yisrael Weiss said today that the search for the remains would continue even on the Sabbath. He explained that it was a matter of "saving lives," for if the forces were to abandon the area for the Sabbath, "the terrorists would return, and our soldiers would be returning to a very different and more dangerous situation on Sunday morning."
Significant remains of three soldiers killed in the blast have been identified, and they will be buried today. Corp. Elad Cohen, 20, will be laid to rest in Mt. Herzl, Sgt. Lior Vishinsky, 20, will be buried in Ramat Gan, and Sgt. Eiman Gadir, 24, will be laid to rest in his Bedouin village of Bir al-Mahsir. The two other soldiers killed in the attack were Lt. Aviv Hakani, 23, from Ashdod, and Sgt. Zohar Smeilov, 20, of Ofakim.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said today that ambulances of the United Nations Relief Works Association (UNRWA) had taken remains of soldiers killed in Tuesday's attack to PA-controlled areas. Arab residents of Gaza were filmed gleefully holding and playing with body parts shortly after the attack on Tuesday morning. Though the PA later returned some of the remains, Mofaz demands that UN Secretary-General relate to the fact that representatives of the world body facilitated the abuse of Israeli corpses.