Yehuda Danino, 41, the driver of the Gaza Coast Regional Council school bus, managed to keep the bus moving till it reached an IDF post some 500 meters from where a roadside bomb had torn it apart, killing two and wounding nine, one of them Danino.
Soldiers at the post immediately began treating the wounded until rescue services arrived, as the IDF deployed scores of armored personnel carriers to seal off area roads to Palestinian vehicles. The wounded were transferred to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, some of them members of the same family.
Gabi Biton, 35, the father of six, and Miriam Amitai, 36, the mother of four, were killed in the blast. Amitai was buried in Ofra yesterday afternoon and Biton in Yeroham last night.
In response to the attack, hundreds of settlers from Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip took to the roads yesterday afternoon calling on the government to allow the army to operate without restraint. Last night in Jerusalem thousands protested outside the prime minister's residence, blocking the surrounding streets.
Benny Kashriel, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip declared, 'While the cabinet speaks, the Palestinians and Tanzim attack.'
Army officers noted the injuries could have been far worse had the bus not been bulletproofed. 'The size of the shell [120 mm] and the explosives packed into it have what we call a killing capacity of a 50-meter radius,' said one officer.
'The army should clear two kilometers from each side of the road, destroy the houses and trees, then the army will have a clear view,' said Nadav David of Neveh Dekalim.
Two sisters and a brother of the Cohen family - Orit, 12, Tehila, eight, and Yisrael, seven - were seriously wounded in the attack. All three had limbs amputated and were in intensive care last night, their parents, Ofir and Noga, at their bedsides Liora Eltar, 34, underwent surgery on her leg, Rahel Asraf, 34, who is pregnant, was lightly injured, Mataniya Daifani, 12, was lightly wounded. His mother, Nurit, 39, was in the plastic surgery department. Rahel Hadad, eight, and driver Danino, 41 were treated and released.
Speaking to reporters at the site of the attack, Gaza regional commander Lt.-Col. Yair Naveh said, 'Today we opened the road to Palestinian traffic thinking the situation had calmed down... but we are in the midst of war and the terrorists purposely chose a soft target. Today's attack is a continuation of shooting incidents in the region last night and the terror attack in Kfar Darom's hothouses on Saturday.'
Three terrorists detonated the bomb and fled to Area A, he said. Naveh noted that the three had hidden behind palm trees in a field a few hundred meters from the roadside to detonate the bomb. Shortly after the attack, army bulldozers uprooted the trees. Some settlers demanded that for every shooting attack the army destroy a row of Palestinian houses at the scene.
Kfar Darom resident Asher Mivtzari was driving ahead of the school bus when the attack occurred. 'I was on my way to work and drove 300 meters in front of the bus when I heard a loud explosion and saw behind me a cloud of dust and smoke billowing into the air. The bus continued and I thought that luckily no one had been injured. But shortly after we saw the heavy price that was paid.'
Golani medic Yaniv Peretz was eating breakfast in the IDF post at the junction when he heard the explosion. 'I raced north of the post and saw the bus shaking, its wheels bent, as it turned into the junction and stopped. I raced out with other soldiers and we entered the bus to assist the wounded and treat them.
'There were screams, children crying that it hurt without knowing where they were injured. The first thing I saw was a mother without a leg, searching for her daughter who also lost a foot. The two hugged each other tightly - we could not separate them and lifted them out of the bus.'
Shortly afterward scores of settlers community arrived at the scene of the blast and across the road from the junction and planted Israeli flags over a pile of bricks and cement, saying they would maintain a vigil at the site in response to the attack.
One hung a yellow sign on the bus next among its shattered windows and gaping holes, reading: 'Your brothers' blood is crying to the skies.'
