(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - Four students from the Hesder Yeshiva at Otniel, south of Hebron, were murdered Friday night by Palestinian terrorists. Ten other Israelis, including six soldiers, were wounded in the attack. Two Islamic Jihad terrorists wearing IDF uniforms and carrying M-16 rifles and ammunition cut through a fence to enter the area. At the time, dozens of yeshiva students were waiting for the Friday night Shabbat meal. The two terrorists began to spray the building with bullets from the outside, and one entered the kitchen next to the dining hall. Four unarmed yeshiva students working in the kitchen at the time were shot at close range: St.-Sgt. Noam Apter, 22, from Shilo, Gavriel Hoter, 17, from Alonei Habashan, Tvi Zeiman, 18, from Reut, and Pvt. Yehuda Bamberger, 20, from Karnei Shomron. The terrorist then tried to enter the dining hall, but a locked door prevented an even more devastating attack. The terrorist fired through the door, wounding five people. Members of an infantry unit located at Otniel were quick to arrive at the scene and killed the terrorists. Security sources said those responsible for the Otniel attack were part of the same Hebron cell that was behind the November 15 strike at Hebron's "worshipers' path," in which 12 Israeli soldiers and security men were killed. Friday's two assailants studied with the three perpetrators of the mid-November attack at the same polytechnic college in Hebron.
2002-12-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive