Israel Suffers Terror Massacre In Jerusalem

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ---- March 6....(INA) - A quiet, Spring evening in Israel was shattered with the news that Palestinian terrorists had murdered several students in a Yeshiva in Jerusalem. First reports coming in from Israel TV and radio stated that two Palestinians had entered the religious school and killed students as they were studying. Eight teens were reported dead and over 40 wounded in what medics described as a "massacre."

The Jerusalem massacre took place at 8:45 p.m. at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Kiryat Moshe, a neighborhood situated at the Western entrance to Jerusalem. The attack was the first of its kind in over two years. Students ran for their lives as police reported that over 500-600 bullets were sprayed in the schools library.

"There were horrendous screams of 'Help us! Help us!'" said Avrahami Sheinberger of the ZAKA emergency rescue service. "There were bodies strewn all over the floor, at the entrance to the yeshiva, in various rooms and in the library."

The head of the school, Rabbi Haim Katz, said that all the victims were between 15 and 16 years old.

Magan David Adom ambulances rushed to the school from as far away as Tel Aviv while Israel police helicopters circled above in what marked the first major attack in Jerusalem since February 2004, when a suicide bomber murdered eight people aboard a bus.

At Shaare Zedek Medical Center, which is only a few minutes' drive from the yeshiva, the most seriously wounded student - who had bullet holes in many parts of his body - was rushed to the operating room. Spokeswoman Shoham Ruvio said he looked about 18 years old. Two other wounded students were in moderate condition, while four were lightly wounded. The age of the wounded was estimated at 16 to 28.

At Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem Jerusalem, three wounded were received. Two were in serious condition in the trauma room, while one was lightly wounded.

Hizbullah's Al-Manar satellite television station said that an Israel Arab group called the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza was responsible for the shooting attack. "Galilee Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem operation," read the message that flashed across Al-Manar's screen.

The Palestinian Hamas movement hailed the attack as "heroic" as hundreds of people poured out into the streets of Gaza to celebrate the shootings.

"This heroic attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier and its murder of civilians," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

The UN resolution sponsored by Pakistan and Muslim countries said Israel incursions into the Palestinian territory inflicted collective punishment on the civilian population. There was no mention that Hamas terrorists were using the civilian population in Gaza as a human shield.

Israel launched the offensive last week in response to Hamas Palestinian terrorists launching Qassam, Katusha and Grad missiles into Sderot, Ashkelon and other areas within southern Israel.

As Israel police, Israel Defense Forces and Israel border police arrived on the scene, the terrorists fired round after round of ammunition into the library at the seminary, religious Zionism's flagship institution. About 80 students had gathered in the library to celebrate the Hebrew month of Adar II, which begins on Friday evening.

"We heard shooting and knew that something had happened," recounted Yitzhak Dadon, 40, who studies at the yeshiva. Dadon said he cocked his handgun and went up to the roof of the yeshiva, where he saw the terrorist spraying gunfire indiscriminately at the crowd inside. Dadon said he fired two bullets at the terrorist, who began to stumble.

At the same time, Israel police arrived at the scene and an intense gunfight erupted with the terrorist lasting several minutes, witnesses said. The scent of gunpowder wafted in the air as undercover police stormed the building.

Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said the terrorist was killed by an IDF officer who lives near the yeshiva and raced to the scene.

As Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, Gaza City residents went out into the streets celebrating, firing rifles in the air after hearing the news of the attack on the school.

Yerach Toker, a paramedic for United Hatzola of Israel, said he saw several dead yeshiva students on the library's floor. "Some of them were still holding sacred Jewish books smeared with blood from which they were learning before they were murdered," he said.

"I heard an explosion and I quickly understood that this was gunfire," said Nuri Davidov, 21. "We hid in a room and, from a window, we could see the terrorist opening fire at other students."

"We had just finished evening prayers and suddenly we heard a burst of gunfire," said Dr. Yitzhak Luber, who was attending a class at the yeshiva. "We all immediately ducked on the floor."

Israel Police were placed on heightened alert ahead of Friday prayers on the Temple Mount after a major IDF operation in the Gaza Strip earlier in the week.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was informed of the attack after holding security meetings in Tel Aviv. He spoke immediately after the attack with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, and held consultations with his advisers and security officials.

Lupolianski told Israel TV Channel 2, "It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem - many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem."

The Mercaz Harav Yeshiva is considered the leading national-religious yeshiva in Israel, with hundreds of elite students. Among its thousands of graduates are leading public figures including senior rabbis and IDF officers. It was founded in 1924 by mandatory Palestine's first chief rabbi, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook. Its longtime head, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, died in September 2007.

Rabbi David Stav, one of many prominent graduates of the yeshiva, which has produced the bulk of the spiritual leadership of religious Zionism in Israel, said that the attack had been directed at the heart of religious Zionism.

The United States slammed the "act of terror and depravity" and the United States Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting later Thursday in the wake of the attack.

The Jerusalem attack came after more than a week of escalated Palestinian violence in and around the Hamas operated Gaza Strip. Three Israel soldiers and one civilian had also been killed in the same period.

"The terrorists attack a school and innocent people," foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said in Israel's first reaction to the attack. "They are trying to kill the chances for peace."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas slammed the strike. "We condemn all attacks against civilians, be they Palestinian or Israeli," his office quoted him as saying in a statement.

France also condemned the attack as an "attack against peace" while European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana telephoned Israel counterpart Tzipi Livni to express his condolences.

Shortly after the Jerusalem terror attack, the Israel Defense Forces carried out an air strike in southern Gaza, killing four militants from the radical Islamic Jihad group, medics said.

"The terrorists attacked a school and murdered innocent people," said Israel Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arye Mekel.

"They are trying to kill all chances for peace. But Israel will continue to defend itself against terrorists while reaching out for a true, just and lasting peace."

Israel's UN Ambassador, Dan Gillerman, stated that he was disappointed the Council did not hear more about the suffering of Israel citizens.

"I did not hear today in the Security Council enough of an emphasis on the cause of what is happening in Gaza, about the suffering of the people of Sderot and the children of the neighboring kibbutzim (communal farms) and villages," he said.

Sderot is the southern Israel town that has been the main target of the Hamas rocket attacks.

The Israel ambassador added that his government's blockade of Gaza is not intended to hurt or punish the 1.5 million people living there, but that Israel will continue to do everything to fight Hamas. He also denied U.N. accusations that the blockade is collective punishment and contrary to international humanitarian law, saying Israel's Supreme Court has justified Israel's actions.

Israel ambassador, Ron Prosor, said Israel was "a democracy under fire". Prosor added: "Since we withdrew from Gaza in 2005, 4,500 missiles have fallen on our streets because the area is being run as a terrorist state and a launch pad for rockets. We have no interest in blockades but what do we have in our toolbox to prevent the raw materials being brought into the area that are used to make rockets?"

His comments came after more than 20 Jews from Scottish Jews for a Just Peace signed a letter calling on Israel to enter ceasefire talks with Hamas.

Mr Prosor angrily rejected their call, describing those who believed in negotiations with Hamas as "totally ignorant of the facts".

"What is there to negotiate about?" he said. "Negotiate about the flowers to be used for my funeral? Negotiate about how deep the hole from the rockets should be? Negotiate about the size of the coffin?

"How can I negotiate with someone who believes I should not exist?"