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June 15, 2003
Soldier killed, 2 wounded in Fatah attacks
By Margot Dudkevitch
St.-Sgt. Mordechai Sayada, 22, of Tirat Carmel, was killed near Jenin and two Israeli women seriously wounded near Neveh Tsuf in the Binyamin district in shooting attacks carried out by Fatah's al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades on Friday.
Sayada's funeral will be held today at 4 p.m. at the Haifa Military Cemetery.
Sayada, a member of the Golani Brigade, was riding in an armored jeep on Friday night on the southern side of Jenin in the direction of Kadim when shots were fired at the vehicle. A bullet penetrated the jeep and hit him in the neck, the army said.
It was not clear whether the vehicle's doors were closed when the patrol came under fire. An army doctor pronounced him dead at the scene. While regulations require combat soldiers to wear helmets and flak jackets, the neck is one of the only areas that remain unprotected.
Speaking on Israel Radio, his uncle said Sayada was raised in a Zionist family and had a religious education. 'His family is like any other whose sons serve in combat units,' he said. 'At 2:30 on Friday afternoon he spoke with his mother and then I spoke with him. He was concerned for his father, who is hospitalized. I didn't think it would be my last conversation with him.'
Sayada is survived by his parents, three brothers, and two sisters. The family asked that the press refrain from covering his funeral, which will be at four this afternoon at Haifa Military Cemetery.
On Friday afternoon, two Israeli women were seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting between Neveh Tsuf and Nahliel northwest of Ramallah.
Pinhas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, told The Jerusalem Post that Hila Edry, 27, was driving toward Neveh Tsuf with two other women when shots were fired at her car, hitting Edry and passenger Simha Dovlesky, 46, in the chest.
Despite her wounds and a burst front tire, Edry continue driving for four kilometers and eventually stopped near the entrance to Neveh Tsuf, he said.
Edry, who was seriously wounded, was flown by helicopter to Hadassah-University Hospital in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem and Dovlesky to Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer.
The condition of both women remained serious but stable, hospital officials said.
In response to the shooting, Wallerstein said, 'Regrettably the road map is already stained with Jewish blood, I hope the government will wise up to what is happening. The terrorists won't stop until the last of the Jews is in the sea. It's about time people realized the situation we are confronted with,' he said.
He noted that Palestinians were barred from using the road the women drove on. 'Maybe now people will monitor the situation more carefully,' he said.
Judea and Samaria police spokesman Rafi Yafe said it appears that three terrorists armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles were involved in the attack and that more than five bullets penetrated the vehicle. He said that there were a number of Palestinian villages in the area where the attack occurred and a search for the perpetrators is under way.
In Memoriam
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