The IDF began to respond to yesterday's double bus bombing in Be'er Sheva with a closure around Hevron, several arrests of terror suspects, and the destruction of the terrorists' homes - but then suddenly brought the last part of the operation to a sudden halt. After destroying the home of the first of yesterday's two murderous terrorists, the army turned its attention to the home of the second one - and decided not to tear it down. This, because it was too close to a neighbor's home, and the army engineers feared that demolishing the one would endanger the other.
Several of the 16 victims in yesterday's attack - all of them residents of Be'er Sheva - were buried today, most of them in Be'er Sheva. The names of 14 of the victims have been released for publication:
Tamara Dibrashvilli, 70, grandmother of 14
Shoshana Amos, 64 - a well-known figure in Be'er Sheva who worked in the city's welfare department, mother of four.
Maria Sokolov, 58
Denise Hadad, 50 - a mother of four who worked in an old-age home.
Tatyana Korochenko, 49
Rosita Lehman, 45
Tekala Tiroyant, 33
Emanuel Yosefov, 28
Karine Malka, 23. She is survived by her parents and an older brother and sister.
Eliyahu Uzan, 58
Roman Sokolovsky, 53
Larisa Gomonenko, 48
Vitali Brodsky, 52
Aviel Atash, 3. The only child of his parents, his mother was seriously wounded.
Karine Malka, who surprised her family by becoming religiously observant a few years ago, and Tatyana Korochenko worked in an absorption center for immigrants from Ethiopia, and Tekala Tiroyant lived there. A total of 103 people were wounded in the attacks, some 20 of whom are still hospitalized this afternoon, including three in serious condition.
The twin bus bombs were detonated shortly before 3 PM, near the Be'er Sheva City Hall. The buses were on either side of a very large intersection when the suicide terrorists detonated their explosives. The driver of the second bus, Yaakov Cohen, told Arutz-7's Moshe Priel what happened after he heard the first blast:
"I was waiting at the intersection near the second bus when an explosion went off inside it. I realized that it had to be a bomb, and I decided to get far away from the area. I wasn't able to drive the bus very far, and suddenly the passengers started yelling 'Open the doors! Open the doors!' I don't know why exactly, but I opened the doors. I think about 10 or more passengers were able to escape before there was a horrible explosion - something impossible to describe, G-d help us. The older passengers weren't able to escape in time and they are the ones who were hurt or killed. I got off easy with scratches from the shattered glass and ringing in my ears."
Priel also spoke to Nissim Vaknin, who was sitting behind the driver of the #6 bus, the bus that was hit first. Vaknin said,
"Right next to me was a young man with long hair - I now think he was the terrorist - who sat quietly and did nothing unusual. At a certain point I got up for an older woman, and moved toward the back. The explosion was near the front door and the whole bus filled with soot, smoke, screaming and yelling. I picked up a young girl in my arms who was shrieking. I ran to the front of the bus, yelling to the driver to open the door. I glanced at where I had been sitting and saw the woman who sat down instead of me - torn to pieces."
The IDF announced the indefinite closing of the Erez Crossing in Gaza, following an attempt yesterday to smuggle an "underwear" suicide bomb through the crossing. The IDF noted that terrorist organizations carry out attacks in civilian sites that contribute to the welfare of the Arab population, in order to sabotage chances of co-existence. The Erez Industrial Zone is a central source of income for thousands of Arab households in Gaza, where more than 4,000 Arabs work in factories owned individually or jointly by Jews and Arabs. In addition, the workers' crossing area is a central artery for residents of the Gaza Strip, where thousands of Arabs pass through each day. Despite this, Erez has repeatedly been targeted by Palestinian terrorists - part of their policy to "deliberately strike at and destroy essential institutions for household income" for the Arab population. The Palestinian Authority takes no effective action to thwart such attacks, as part of its general refusal to substantially fight terrorism.
Several of the 16 victims in yesterday's attack - all of them residents of Be'er Sheva - were buried today, most of them in Be'er Sheva. The names of 14 of the victims have been released for publication:
Tamara Dibrashvilli, 70, grandmother of 14
Shoshana Amos, 64 - a well-known figure in Be'er Sheva who worked in the city's welfare department, mother of four.
Maria Sokolov, 58
Denise Hadad, 50 - a mother of four who worked in an old-age home.
Tatyana Korochenko, 49
Rosita Lehman, 45
Tekala Tiroyant, 33
Emanuel Yosefov, 28
Karine Malka, 23. She is survived by her parents and an older brother and sister.
Eliyahu Uzan, 58
Roman Sokolovsky, 53
Larisa Gomonenko, 48
Vitali Brodsky, 52
Aviel Atash, 3. The only child of his parents, his mother was seriously wounded.
Karine Malka, who surprised her family by becoming religiously observant a few years ago, and Tatyana Korochenko worked in an absorption center for immigrants from Ethiopia, and Tekala Tiroyant lived there. A total of 103 people were wounded in the attacks, some 20 of whom are still hospitalized this afternoon, including three in serious condition.
The twin bus bombs were detonated shortly before 3 PM, near the Be'er Sheva City Hall. The buses were on either side of a very large intersection when the suicide terrorists detonated their explosives. The driver of the second bus, Yaakov Cohen, told Arutz-7's Moshe Priel what happened after he heard the first blast:
"I was waiting at the intersection near the second bus when an explosion went off inside it. I realized that it had to be a bomb, and I decided to get far away from the area. I wasn't able to drive the bus very far, and suddenly the passengers started yelling 'Open the doors! Open the doors!' I don't know why exactly, but I opened the doors. I think about 10 or more passengers were able to escape before there was a horrible explosion - something impossible to describe, G-d help us. The older passengers weren't able to escape in time and they are the ones who were hurt or killed. I got off easy with scratches from the shattered glass and ringing in my ears."
Priel also spoke to Nissim Vaknin, who was sitting behind the driver of the #6 bus, the bus that was hit first. Vaknin said,
"Right next to me was a young man with long hair - I now think he was the terrorist - who sat quietly and did nothing unusual. At a certain point I got up for an older woman, and moved toward the back. The explosion was near the front door and the whole bus filled with soot, smoke, screaming and yelling. I picked up a young girl in my arms who was shrieking. I ran to the front of the bus, yelling to the driver to open the door. I glanced at where I had been sitting and saw the woman who sat down instead of me - torn to pieces."
The IDF announced the indefinite closing of the Erez Crossing in Gaza, following an attempt yesterday to smuggle an "underwear" suicide bomb through the crossing. The IDF noted that terrorist organizations carry out attacks in civilian sites that contribute to the welfare of the Arab population, in order to sabotage chances of co-existence. The Erez Industrial Zone is a central source of income for thousands of Arab households in Gaza, where more than 4,000 Arabs work in factories owned individually or jointly by Jews and Arabs. In addition, the workers' crossing area is a central artery for residents of the Gaza Strip, where thousands of Arabs pass through each day. Despite this, Erez has repeatedly been targeted by Palestinian terrorists - part of their policy to "deliberately strike at and destroy essential institutions for household income" for the Arab population. The Palestinian Authority takes no effective action to thwart such attacks, as part of its general refusal to substantially fight terrorism.