Thousands participated in levayas filled with pain and
grief last Wednesday and Thursday for seven of the nine
victims killed by terrorists last Tuesday afternoon at the
entrance to the Samarian town of Emanuel. Among the dead is
an infant, born prematurely to his wounded mother, as well as
children and young adults.
Several terrorists, dressed in Israeli army uniforms, planted
a bomb in the road near the town, exploding it as the bus
passed by. The bus was crippled and settled in a ditch near
the side of the road. The terrorists then approached the bus,
shooting through the unarmored roof and trying to shoot
through the bulletproof windows. They threw several hand
grenades into the bus. These did not explode but their
presence seriously hampered the efforts to treat and remove
the wounded. Officials said that most of the casualties were
a result of the gunfire and not the original blast.
The security officer of Emanuel approached the scene in his
armored car, and was surprised to see that IDF soldiers had
arrived so quickly. He did not realize the truth until they
shot at him, but fortunately he was not harmed.
All the victims were peaceful, innocent civilians. Such
attacks are unambiguous criminal violations of international
law. Civilians may not be targeted. Fighters must be clearly
identified by their uniforms and they may not don uniforms of
the other side, in order to minimize civilian casualties.
Hundreds of talmidim from Yeshivas Beis Shemaya and
Yeshivas Kol Yehuda, led by the respective roshei
yeshivos and rabbonim, accompanied Yonoson Gamliel,
Hy'd, who was killed in the attack, to his final rest
on Wednesday, erev Tisha B'Av.
Just one day earlier they had bid their friend Yonoson
farewell after three years of study at Yeshivas Beis Shemaya
and wished him success in Torah and yiras Shomayim at
Yeshivas Kol Yehuda, where he had enrolled for the coming
year. Yet to their great distress shortly thereafter the 15-
year-old bochur was taken to beis olomo at the
height of his spiritual development.
Before the levaya set out the rosh yeshiva of Beis
Shemaya Letze'irim, HaRav Phatal, delivered a hesped,
saying that week he had done a hatovas chalom
following a dream about a burned sefer Torah. "The day
after the terrible tragedy we can understand the meaning of
the horrible dream." He also spoke of Yonoson's spiritual
aspirations saying, "Since his arrival at the yeshiva he
aspired to greatness, going up and up the path to beis
Hashem." Rav Phatal also noted Yonoson's fabulous
hasmodoh and his good relations with his friends and
fellow talmidim who loved him for his good heart and
elevated middos, and mentioned the great merit he has
for organizing a yeshiva bein hazmanim in Emanuel,
which increased Torah merits in his town.
He was also eulogized by the rov of Emanuel's Yemenite
kehilloh and Labor and Welfare Minister Shlomo
Benizri.
On the night of Tisha B'Av itself two suicide bombers
murdered one Israeli and two foreign workers in a double
bombing in Tel Aviv. About a hundred were injured, many of
them foreign workers. Police said that many of the injured
were here illegally and were afraid to seek treatment.
Only minutes before the bombing, agents of the Tel Aviv
municipality gave fines to several establishments in the area
of the attack that were open for business in violation of
city bylaws that prohibit such activities on Tisha B'Av.
