One Killed, Many Saved in Terror Attacks Outside Jerusalem

Hillel Fendel and Ezra HaLevi

Arab terrorists opened fire on a vehicle near the northern entrance to the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat Thursday evening, murdering one Jew and seriously wounding another. At the same time, an attack in Kfar Etzion, south of Jerusalem, ended in the death of two terrorists. Fatah's Al-Aksa Brigades terrorist group announced that it was behind both attacks. A Border Police officer - Rami Zuari, 20, from Be'er Sheva - was mortally wounded in the first attack. Medics at a nearby checkpoint administered CPR to no avail, and he was pronounced dead. The other victim, a female Border Police officer, also 20, was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in critical condition from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Miracle and Courageous Counselors in Kfar Etzion
Around the same time, Arab terrorists also infiltrated Kibbutz Kfar Etzion in Gush Etzion in an event that ended miraculously without major casualties. The two terrorists entered Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's Mekor Chaim yeshiva high school, entering a library room where seven of the boarding school's counselors were having a meeting. The terrorists, armed with a knife and a gun - which later turned out to be a fake - were dressed in the uniforms of a security company, and ordered the seven to line up on one side of the room. A counselor realized they were terrorists, drew his personal firearm and opened fire. Another grabbed the fake gun from one of the terrorists, wrestled him to the floor, while the first counselor shot him dead. The terrorists managed to lightly stab two of the counselors before falling dead.

At the same time, the Beit Medrash (study hall) - adjacent to the library - was packed with students taking part in the weekly Thursday night "mishmar" all-night Torah study session. Other students were scattered in rooms in the immediate vicinity.

Both of the lightly wounded counselors were taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment and observation. Residents of the Kibbutz were told to remain in their homes for a while after the attack, for fear that other terrorists were still present in the community. A search was carried out for the exact spot in the perimeter fence through which the terrorists infiltrated.

The IDF commended the counselors, saying their bravery prevented what would have been a major terrorist attack.

Former MK Chanan Porat, a resident of Kfar Etzion, remarked afterwards on the miraculous nature of the event: "Thank G-d it ended this way - and the counselors deserve amazing credit for their courage and skill who did the work and killed the terrorists."

A month ago, on Dec. 28, armed terrorists opened fire and murdered two hikers - both former students of the same Mekor Chaim yeshiva - in Nachal Telem, west of Hevron. The two, off-duty soldiers Amikam Amichai and David Rubin, managed to return fire, killing one terrorists and seriously wounding another. A girl who was hiking with the two hid and was saved.