|
March 2, 2006
Father of two killed in Samaria shooting
Netanya man wounded in separate attack; IDF denies killing Jihad head
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
An Israeli man was killed and another wounded in two separate terrorist shooting attacks in Samaria as violence in the territories intensified on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a senior Islamic Jihad commander was killed when his car blew up in Gaza City, in what the IDF described as an apparent "work accident."
Eldad Abir, 48, of Migdalim in Samaria was working at the gas station he managed at the entrance to the settlement when two terrorists approached him and shot him at point-blank range. Abir died of his wounds a short time afterwards.
In Nebi Elias, east of Kalkilya, terrorists shot an Israeli resident of Netanya, hitting him in the neck. He was transferred to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, where his condition was described as serious but stable.
The Fatah Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for both attacks.
In response to the shootings, the army beefed up its presence in Samaria, increasing its patrols on the highways and roads and tightening inspections at the crossings and checkpoints. In addition, a curfew was imposed on Nebi Elias.
Five Kassam rockets were also fired at Israel. One landed near the northern Gaza security fence; no one was wounded and no damage was reported. In the afternoon, two rockets landed in Palestinian-controlled areas near the Sufa crossing in southern Gaza. The army was seeking to determine where the final two rockets landed, but estimated that both fell into an open area in Israel close to the northern Gaza security fence.
In response, IDF artillery units shelled northern Gaza launching sites.
On Wednesday, 72 terror warnings were recorded by the security establishment, 12 related to concrete threats, security officials said.
Since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, there had been a sharp increase in stone throwing, firebomb and stabbing incidents, they said. Security officials estimated that these would continue to increase, but added that shooting attacks such as the two that took place Wednesday do not signify an upsurge in such types of attack.
"The violence in recent weeks is what we describe as a popular or people’s uprising, and could worsen," one security official said.
Benzi Lieberman, head of the Samaria Regional Council, declared that the attacks were similar to the situation before Operation Defensive Shield was launched, the days when the security of Judea and Samaria civilians was abandoned, he said. Protesting reduced IDF presence in the area, he said that "it appears that [Acting Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz prefer to deploy security forces to demolish nine buildings rather than enhance security for citizens and combat terror."
While Judea and Samaria police are treating the two Samaria shooting attacks as the acts of terrorists, they have not ruled out the possibility of criminal motives, deputy Samaria police commander Uzi Zomar told The Jerusalem Post. "We cannot rule out the possibility of criminal motives, especially at Migdalim, as the findings on the ground did not support any one direction," he said.
Zomar confirmed that Abir was known to police, but said the shooting at Nebi Elias appeared to have been nationalistically motivated.
In both attacks, the terrorists used handguns, he said. "It is not clear if the weapons used in both attacks were the same [one] or whether it was just coincidental,‘ he said. ’The bullet casings found at both sites have been sent for ballistic testing. Once we receive the findings we may be able to determine if there is a link between the two attacks."
Two hours after the shooting at Migdalim, reports were received of another attack in Nebi Elias, the village that in recent weeks made headlines after unknown assailants defaced the village mosque twice, daubing the exterior wall with Mohammed the Pig and a Star of David. The incidents sparked intense clashes in the area.
In Wednesday’s incident, a 47-year-old resident of Netanya was shot in the neck at as he stepped out of a shop in the village. The shopkeeper, who heard gunfire, saw the Israeli lying on the ground and alerted the police. Within minutes, security forces reached the site and medics stabilized the man’s condition and transferred him to a hospital.
The terrorists also shot at the car of an Israeli Arab resident of Jaffa, who was shopping in the village with his two wives and two children. The five were in the car at the time of the shooting. The bullet penetrated the windshield of their car, embedding itself in the baby’s seat located in the rear. The man left the area and headed towards a checkpoint outside of Kalkilya, notifying the soldiers of the attack.
"It was sheer luck that the baby was not hit by the bullet, as it was lying in the seat when the shots were fired," an IDF officer said.
The IDF denied any involvement in the Gaza City death of Khaled Dahdouh, 38, a senior Islamic Jihad commander who was killed when the car he was riding in blew up not far from the Ministry of Finance and Al Azhar University on Wednesday morning.
Palestinian media reports claimed a missile fired from a drone smashed into the car and blew it up. However, the army insisted that Israel was not involved and that it appeared that Dahdouh was killed in a "work accident."
The Islamic Jihad in Gaza has been responsible for the Kassam rocket attacks at Israel, and Dahdouh was known to be extensively involved in manufacturing rockets and planning attacks.
In the West Bank, security forces shot and wounded Muhammad Sadaka when he attempted to evade arrest and fled from his home in Anza south of Jenin. He was taken to hospital in Israel and will later be handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning. The army said Sadaka was planning to launch attacks in Israel.
A friendly gas station manager
Eldad Abir, the 48-year-old victim of Wednesday’s shooting attack, was the first person from the settlement of Migdalim to be killed in a terror attack.
Abir moved nine years ago with his second wife Debbie to Migdalim, near the Tapuach junction, Liora Yagoda, a Migdalim spokeswoman, told the The Jerusalem Post. "Ever since he arrived here he worked at the gas station," she said.
The couple has a three-year-old daughter, Yahel, who attends the kindergarten in Ariel. Abir also has a 17-year-old son from his first marriage, Yagoda said.
The couple recently rented an apartment in Ariel and split their time between there and the settlement. "His wife Debbie feared traveling on the roads," said Yagoda.
Debbie had been traveling on a bus to Ariel to pick up their daughter when she heard of the shooting at the gas station on the radio. "She called us and asked us. We gave her partial information and then later revealed the terrible news," said Yagoda.
Shortly after the attack, social workers, psychologists and settler leaders gathered the community’s youth to discuss the attack. "We are a small community of 40 families,‘ she said. Others were sent to assist Abir’s wife, who remained at the couple’s apartment in Ariel. ’He was a very friendly person, and well-liked," said Yagoda.
Details of the funeral have yet to be released, according to Ahuva Shilo, spokeswoman of the Samaria Regional Council. She added that Abir’s brothers, who live in Argentina, were expected to arrive some time Thursday. "It is possible the funeral will be on Friday," she said.
In Memoriam
------------------------------
Back to Timeline »
|
