Terror Attack Claims Two Israeli Lives, Terrorist Killed in Gunfight, Palestinians Rejoice
A Palestinian terrorist was on the run for nearly two days after managing to snuff out the lives of two Israelis and leaving another in critical condition after a terror attack on Sunday in Ariel, a large Jewish city in the West Bank.
Gal Keidan, 19, who was serving in the Israel Defense Forces, was killed at the scene and Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, a father of 12, succumbed to his wounds the next day. Alexander Dvorsky, 19, an immigrant from Moldova, is fighting for his life in a hospital.
The 20-year-old Palestinian, Omar Abu Lila, seemingly acted alone when he stabbed Keidan in Ariel then stole his rifle and shot him point blank as soldiers were patrolling a bus station. Israeli soldiers managed to fire back but Lila used Keidan’s weapon to shoot at passing vehicles. He hit a civilian, then hijacked a car to get away. Lila later shot another Israeli before ditching the car and disappearing into a nearby Palestinian village, the military said.
Omar Abu-Laila, the terrorist who murdered a rabbi and a soldier was killed in a shootout with the IDF.
Lila was in hiding since the attack. Israeli military raided his home in the West Bank, arresting his teenage brother and questioning his father. Last night, he was located and choose death over surrender, as he exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers.
Keidan was remembered as an aspiring musician who played the mandocello, a rare instrument. Footage of his final recital has been shared on social media since his death. Ettinger established a yeshiva in a poor neighborhood of Tel Aviv and was remembered for loving life.
Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with the grieving family of Rabbi Ettinger.
“This cursed terrorist thought he was stopping life but he does not know how much life you left here, how much power you gave to us which will raise us together with the Jewish people,” Ettinger’s daughter Efrat eulogized her father at his funeral.
This young Palestinian ruined his life because of fanatical Islamic philosophy, the dire economic state of the Palestinians under Abbas and because the Palestinian Authority continue to glorify murder, by honoring suicide bombers and terrorists and paying their families for life. They create the perfect “out” for hopeless Palestinian youth. Murder Israelis, die in the process and you become a hero and your families gets paid.
توزيع الحلوى في خانيونس جنوب قطاع غزة ابتهاجاً بـ #عملية_سلفيت البطولية صباح اليوم . pic.twitter.com/IXWxCNYUyi — المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) March 17, 2019
But while Israelis mourned the lives of their loved ones, Palestinians celebrated their deaths by distributing sweets on Sunday morning following the attack seen in a video tweeted by the Palestinian Information Center. Interestingly, they only posted this on their Arabic account, not their English one. The caption reads, “The distribution of sweets in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip is a heroic rejoicing this morning.”
“Disgustingly, but not surprisingly, Hamas & Palestinian Islamic Jihad welcomed the attack & no doubt the Palestinian Authority will reward the terrorist under its pay for slay policy,” U.S. envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt wrote on Twitter.
