Israel Matzav

And again and again - two terror attacks in and around Jerusalem - UPDATED

There were two 'Palestinian' terror attacks in and around Jerusalem in the last half hour. In the attack with the worse results, two 'Palestinians' with guns opened fire on two Israelis outside the Shuafat 'refugee camp' (about ten minutes from my house). One Israeli has been critically wounded and is still being treated where the incident took place. The other was seriously wounded and has been transferred to Hadassah Hospital at Ein Karem. It's not yet clear to me whether the Israelis were in a car or on foot. The terrorists have escaped and the police are searching for them.

In the second attack, two armed 'Palestinians' entered the Mekor Haim (Steinsaltz) Yeshiva in Kfar Etzion (by jumping the town's fence) with knives (and guns?) and attacked three students. One student was moderately wounded and two lightly wounded with several other students being scratched by knives. Someone - apparently dorm counselors - shot and killed the terrorists. The three wounded students have been transferred to Hadassah Hospital's trauma unit at Ein Karem.

More details to follow when I have them.

UPDATE 11:15 PM

The two victims in the Jerusalem attack were a male and a female border police officer. The male (who had not been transferred to the hospital) has now died. A previously unknown branch of the 'good terrorists' from Abu Mazen's Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem attack.

UPDATE 12:03 AM

In the Kfar Etzion attack, the terrorists had a knife and a pistol. They broke into what was apparently a staff meeting and were killed by one or more of the counselors, all of whom are armed.

UPDATE 12:10 AM

In the Jerusalem attack, the two police officers were manning a road block which the High Court of Justice recently ordered the IDF to keep open 24 hours a day to allow the 'Palestinians' in and out of the 'refugee camp.' The terrorists shot them and escaped. The surviving officer (a woman) is now reported to be 'moderately' wounded and is conscious.

In the Kfar Etzion attack, it was a staff meeting in the Yeshiva library. The pistol was a 'toy.'

Every terror attack in Judea and Samaria in recent months has been carried out by unknown branches of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Israel Radio describes this as 'spontaneous.'

The security forces are checking whether the two attacks are connected.

The road along the Egyptian border from Gaza heading towards Eilat is now closed due to warnings of a terror attack. Israelis have been asked to leave Sinai and return to Israel.

UPDATE 12:40 AM

Headline from Agence France Press: Officials: 2 Palestinians Die in W. Bank Settlement Attack

Hat Tip: NJDhockeyfan via Little Green Footballs

/There's no such thing as media bias

UPDATE 1:07 AM

In the Kfar Etzion attack, the terrorists wore uniforms belonging to a private Israeli security company (likely stolen). One of the kids' counselors pulled a gun and shot one of the terrorists and another counselor tackled the second terrorist, took away his gun and shot him (probably contradicting the earlier report that the gun was a 'toy' unless the broadcaster meant that the counselor took away a knife and then shot the terrorist with the counselor's own gun).

The police are saying that there is no connection between the two attacks.

UPDATE 10:36 AM

The border policeman who was murdered last night was 20-year old Rami Zoari of Be'er Sheva. He was with the border police as part of his army service. Here are more details on last night's attacks:

IDF sources said that terrorists had approached the entrance to Shuafat by foot and opened fire at a group of Israelis nearby and then fled the scene. Military forces and Border Policemen immediately dispatched search parties to catch the gunmen, and a helicopter assisted the searchers.

The Battalions of Struggle and Return, a previously anonymous offshoot of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, Israel Radio reported. The group added that the attackers managed to flee the scene.

Police Chief Dudi Cohen and Jerusalem District Head Ilan Franco arrived at the scene.

Roadblocks all around Jerusalem separating camps like Shuafat from the central part of the capital were opened following a ruling by the High Court of Justice. Citing this fact, Franco said that "if it were up to me, the roadblocks would stay closed."

Cohen said that roadblock such as the one near Shuafat were "weak points" around the city.

In every attack in the West Bank in recent month, a previously unknown Fatah linked group later claimed responsibility. Police said many attacks have been averted by security forces' work inside Palestinian towns.

In another simultaneous incident, two terrorists were killed after they infiltrated the Mekor Hayim High School Yeshiva in Kfar Etzion, south of Jerusalem.

The terrorists, armed with knives and a pistol, infiltrated the kibbutz - in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc - and snuck into a building used by the high school, run by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

The kibbutz is surrounded by a fence which contains an alert system when a part of it
Has been breached, but the terrorists managed to disable the alert and cut a hole through the fence undetected, a paramedic in Hatzollah Judea and Samaria told The Jerusalem Post.

They entered a classroom where tutors were holding a meeting, and stabbed two of them. The wounded suffered non-threatening injuries, one to the head and the other to the shoulder, and were evacuated to Hadassah Hosptial in Jerusalem.

Two of the tutors were armed and managed to overpower and kill the terrorists, without them having had a chance to use their pistol, a spokesman for Hatzollah Judea and Samaria told the Post.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, carried out by two youths, around 17 years old.

They were wearing green outfits, apparently in an attempt to masquerade as IDF soldiers.

However, they were not in military uniform, Hatzollah's spokesman told the Post.

Maybe someone can explain to the Bush administration why keeping the road blocks closed is necessary. Or will it God forbid take a massive suicide bombing to do that?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:02 PM