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April 21, 2003
IDF photographer, five Palestinians killed in Rafah
By Margot Dudkevitch
Sgt. Lior Ziv, 19, of Holon, an IDF photographer, was killed and three other soldiers were wounded early Sunday morning by
Palestinian gunfire in the Yabna refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The troops were searching for tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons and also had orders to demolish the home of a local
Hamas commander. According to reports, five Palestinians were killed in the IDF incursion and 40 were wounded.
Minutes before being shot, Ziv filmed the pile of grenades, ammunition, and other weapons found in the home of Hamas
commander Mahmoud Abu Shamallah. The IDF Spokesman's Film and Photography Unit in which Ziv served is considered an
integral part of all IDF combat operations. Soldiers serving in the unit document military activities, and their work is used by the
local media.
Ziv was buried on Sunday afternoon in the military cemetery of his hometown. The wounded soldiers were taken to the Soroka
Hospital in Beersheba.
More than 15,000 Palestinians waving rifles and Palestinian flags crowded the streets of Rafah to bury the five Palestinians killed.
Palestinian sources reported that troops, accompanied by 30 tanks, entered the camp from three directions. Palestinians called on
loudspeakers demanding that residents 'resist' the soldiers.
Doctors at the local hospital identified the dead Palestinians as Hussan Zaanu, 22, Said al-Masri, 19, Muhammad al-Hamaida, 20,
Nahed al-Nawajha, 29, and Mahmoud Abu Koh, 15.
In the operation launched on Saturday night, Ziv and others from his unit joined soldiers from the Givati Brigade, armored, and
engineering units. The soldiers met with fierce resistance and engaged in intensive gun battles with the Palestinians, who
detonated a number of bombs near them and fired anti-tank rockets.
The main aim of the operation was to track down two tunnels operated by the Hamas. The soldiers discovered the opening to one
of the tunnels, described as one of the largest yet found - 300 meters long, 60 meters deep, and 60 centimeters wide - under a
concrete slab in the yard of the home belonging to Naim Abu Obeid, and blew it up using 200 kilograms of explosives.
The soldiers then began searching for the other tunnel near Shamallah's home, and first sent in a dog trained to detect explosives
and weapons before deploying to secure the site. Ziv and his colleague, who had been waiting in an armored personnel carrier,
were summoned to film the site.
As they moved into a narrow alley between the houses, Palestinians positioned in a number of buildings that overlooked the site
opened fire. Ziv was hit in the head and died instantly, and the other cameraman suffered light- to-moderate wounds.
Two medics who went to the aid of their comrades were also hit, one was said to be in serious condition and the other was lightly
wounded. The attacks occurred before the troops blew up Shamallah's home.
Since the beginning of the year, security forces have demolished 17 tunnels used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip,
Brig.-Gen. Gad Shamni told reporters at a briefing following the announcement of Lior's death.
'Those who document IDF activities are highly motivated and want to participate in operations, even if it means being in the most
dangerous places,' he said. 'We consider their work to be of the utmost importance.'
Hours after the soldiers pulled out of Rafah, a Kassam rocket hit the roof of an apartment building the Negev town of Sderot.
Shrapnel penetrated the stairwell, causing a small fire. One of the tenants, an elderly woman, was treated for smoke inhalation.
Hamas later claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was in response to the IDF operation in Rafah.
In the afternoon Palestinians fired two mortar shells at Morag in the southern Gaza Strip. There were no casualties or damage.
In the West Bank, soldiers shot to death a teenager who threw firebombs at vehicles on Route 55 near Azun in Samaria. North of
Nablus, near Silat e-Dhahr, a bomb was detonated near soldiers, causing no casualties.
Copyright © The Jerusalem Post
In Memoriam
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