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May. 18, 2003
Kiryat Arba couple killed by Hebron suicide bomber
By Margot Dudkevitch
A Kiryat Arba couple was murdered on Saturday night when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to them as they walked in Hebron's Gross Square.
Gadi and Dina Esther Levy, both in their 30s, were walking in the street near the square when a suicide bomber wearing a white shirt like that of a yeshiva student raced out of the nearby Arab cemetery, ignored soldiers who ordered him to stop, raced towards the couple and blew himself up.
Gadi died at the scene, his wife, who suffered multiple wounds, died shortly after arriving at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital in Ein Kerem.
According to reports, the terrorist was identified as Fuad al-Kawasma, affiliated with Hamas.
Security officials said the terrorist came from the direction of the Abu Sneineh neighborhood and the Nahal Brigade soldiers at a nearby position who were alerted by his behavior called out to him to stop. The bomber ignored their calls and raced towards the Levys. The attack occurred just hours before the scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).
Jewish residents of Hebron called on Sharon to cancel the meeting with Abbas.
"This is Sharon's greeting to Abu Mazen and Muhammad Dahlan. We call on the prime minister to cancel the meeting and refrain from shaking the hands of murderers of Jews," David Wilder, a spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community told The Jerusalem Post. "If the attack had occurred 20 minutes earlier, he would have harmed a group of youths who were on their way to attend evening prayers at the Machpela Cave."
Officials said there had been no specific warnings of plans by terrorists to perpetrate an attack in Hebron. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it was similar to shooting attacks in the past that were perpetrated by the Islamic Jihad.
Jewish residents in the city noted that even in the latest statements made by Abbas and other Palestinian officials, Jewish residents in communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip continue to be perceived by the terrorists as legitimate targets.
Kiryat Arba Mayor Zvi Katsover declared the attack was a signal to Sharon of the consequences when meeting with Palestinians. "We cannot ignore what happened," he said.
Rafael Avitan, Gadi Levy's boss at the Kiryat Arba supermarket where he worked, spoke to the Post about the Levys. "They were married about 18 months ago. We all attended their wedding at the Jerusalem Rabbinate and celebrated. Gadi was a special person, very dedicated to his wife and mother and always willing to help anyone who needed assistance," said Avitan. "He was a very special person, he wanted so much to be a father. He loved children."
In the Gaza Strip on Friday, a soldier was seriously wounded when a bomb blew up near the Merkava tank he was riding in as security forces deployed in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun. The soldier, who suffered head wounds, was taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. On Saturday officials said his condition had improved and that he was communicating with the medical staff and family members.
Shortly after the incident, security forces operating in the town discovered another bomb which sappers destroyed. Troops, who entered Beit Hanun early Thursday morning in response to the recent escalation in Kassam rocket and mortar fire, have set up positions in and around the town. They continue conducting house-to-house searches for fugitives and weapons, and bulldozers have cleared foliage on the outskirts of the town used by terrorists as cover to launch their attacks.
On Friday morning, Palestinians fired a Kassam rocket that landed in Sderot's Sha'arei Hanegev industrial zone, damaging the roof of one of the factories but causing no casualties. Palestinians claimed that the rockets were being launched from the Jabalya refugee camp and not from Beit Hanun, where security forces continue to operate.
The IDF Spokesman said that despite the ongoing operation in Beit Hanun, the army was making every effort to assist civilians not involved in terror. Repairs began on the water and electricity infrastructure that had been damaged with the army's entrance into the town and a pregnant woman with heart problems was taken to hospital in Israel in coordination with district liaison officials.
The IDF Spokesman said the army also offered to distribute food to the local population. On Thursday OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Doron Almog said the operation would probably continue for a number of days.
On Saturday an antitank rocket was fired at troops near the Gush Katif border fence and shots were fired at soldiers near Rafah. Later in the day security forces destroyed three bombs planted by Palestinians near Rafah, they contained between 40 kg and 70 kg of explosives each officials said. A mortar shell fired by Palestinians landed near Netzarim and another in the yard of a house in Nisanit. No one was wounded but the house was damaged. Security forces patrolling near the south Gaza border fence discovered a 30 kg bomb and nearby a second bomb, both were blown up by sappers.
In Judea and Samaria over the weekend, eight Palestinian suspects and fugitives were arrested in Ramallah, near Bethlehem, and in Hebron. Security forces demolished the Nablus home of Radwan Salah Hussan Karo, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who, with an accomplice, perpetrated the shooting attack in April at an IDF base in the north Jordan Valley near Bekaot, killing two soldiers and wounding eight.
Shots were fired at an Israeli vehicle near the Zief junction south of Hebron. No one was wounded and no damage reported.
In Memoriam
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