Posted on 06/19/2005 7:50:25 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Avi Karouchi, a 25-year-old reservist non-comissioned officer from Beersheba was killed and two other soldiers were wounded in a shooting attack along the Philadelphi route late Sunday morning.
Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the IDF's Girit post on the Philadelphi route. A short time later, the attack escalated with the firing of an anti-tank weapon on the soldiers and civilians working west of the post and on an IDF armored personnel carrier securing them, when three of the soldiers were wounded.
Karouchi died later in the hospital. He was laid to rest at the Beersheva Military Cemetary.
Soldiers returned fire, after which the Palestinian gunmen charged. In the charge, one of the gunmen was killed and another wounded. The IDF is investigating the possibility that a third gunman was involved.
The gunmen apparently came from Tel Sultan near Rafah. Islamic Jihad and the Abu Rish Brigades of the Fatah claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The IDF is investigating how the Palestinian gunmen reached the route, which is surrounded by the wall on the Rafah side and the Egyptian border fence on the other side.
The attack came after multiple attempts over the weekend by Palestinian terrorist organizations to mount a successful attack in advance of Condoleezza Rice's visit to the region. All were thwarted by the IDF.
In other incidents Sunday, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was arrested at the Hawara checkpoint with five pipe bombs.
Soldiers suspected the boy, who was carrying a large box. The checkpoint was closed, Palestinian civilians were distanced and Border Police sappers were called in.
A search of the box revealed five pipe bombs hidden in tubes of silicone alongside nails and bolts.
This was the twenty-first incident in the past three months and the thirtieth this year in which youths have been stopped at IDF checkpoints while attempting to smuggle ammunition and weapons to be used for terrorist attacks on civilians.
Good thing there is "peace," huh?
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