 |
 |
 |
|
|
Wounded victim of the attack is evacuated by ambulance. (Flash90)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff March 6, 2008 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
 |
| (Flash90) |
| |
A terrorist infiltrated the renowned Mercaz Harav seminary and opened fire on students there. Eight Israeli Jewish students were killed, and eight were wounded, five seriously.
The terrorist, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, came to the gated seminary at the entrance to Jerusalem carrying a cardboard box, pulling a rifle from the box and opened fire in the library where scores of seminary students were learning.
A special forces unit stormed the building and encountered gunfire. For about 10 minutes there were exchanges of fire in the streets of Jerusalem, including private citizens who entered the yeshiva to fight. Eventually the gunman was killed, reportedly by a yeshiva student.
Yitzhak Dadon, a student, said he was armed with a rifle and waited on the roof of a nearby building. "He [the gunman] came out of the library spraying automatic fire ... the terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head," he said.
Earlier reports of a second terrorist were later corrected.
Soldiers in combat gear appeared in the streets of the capital, seeking out a possible additional terrorist or the driver who brought the terrorist to the yeshiva.
The streets of the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood were filled with ambulances and security forces.
No terror group initially claimed responsibility for the massacre, but an organization calling itself "Galilee Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh" took responsiblity for the attack, according to Hezbollah's Al-Manar television, which broadcast the claim.
Hamas "blessed" the attack and said it "would not be the last."
In Jebaliya, about 7,000 Gazans of different factions marched in the streets, firing in the air in celebration.
In Rafah on the Egyptian border, residents distributed sweets to moving cars, and militants fired mortars in celebration.
The attack was perpetrated by a resident of Jabel Mukaber in east Jerusalem, officials said.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
