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A Palestinian terrorist cut through an electronic fence and infiltrated into Moshav Mechora; an Israeli woman was killed, her husband wounded.
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| By Ellis Shuman August 11, 2002 |
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A Palestinian terrorist cut through an electronic fence and infiltrated into the northern Jordan Valley community of Mechora late Saturday night. The terrorist opened fire in all directions, seriously wounding the head of Mechora's emergency response team. The man's wife was shot and killed as she stood in the doorway of her home. A Nahal Haredi infantry unit arrived on the scene and killed the terrorist.
The Israeli woman was identified as Yafit Herenstein, 31. Her husband, Arno, was still in intensive care early Sunday afternoon. The couple's two young children were unharmed in the attack.
Security forces were alerted just before 10 p.m. Saturday night by the break in the fence. The Nahal force stationed on Mechora was immediately dispatched to the site of the infiltration. By the time they arrived, the Israeli woman was already dead, and her husband was wounded.
Senior IDF officers said that the electronic fence's warning system prevented a more serious terror attack on Mechora. The officers added that the actions of the Nahal unit were quick and effective. In February, a Nahal unit from the same force was highly criticized for its slow and ineffective response to an infiltration at nearby Hamra, in which three Israelis were killed.
The Palestinian terrorist was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, ammunition magazines and wire cutters. A videotape on his body identified him as a member of the Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. Security forces searched the area for possible accomplices to the infiltration attack.
"We heard gunfire," said Hanna Nesher, a Mechora resident. "Individual gun shots were followed by bursts of gunfire, and then we heard screaming. The men took their guns and ran outside, while we remained in our houses, locked the doors, and turned off the lights according to security procedures."
Paramedic Rafi Ganani told ynet that his ambulance was the first to arrive in Mechora. "I found the woman dead in the entrance of her home. The husband was shot inside his car. He was fully conscious, and complained that his arm hurt him, that it was broken." The injured man was evacuated by helicopter to Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem.
Moshav Mechora is located on the Alon Road in the northern Jordan Valley. It is directly east of Nablus, and five kilometers south of Hamra. Mechora was established in 1973, and the settlement is based primarily on agriculture - vegetables, orchards and vineyards. Due to the security situation of the last two years, many residents have left the community, and today only 26 families remain there.
On Saturday, security forces spotted a Hamas terrorist who had penetrated the Gaza Strip security fence near the area of Kibbutz Nir Am. Soldiers opened fire, detonating one of the grenades strapped to the terrorist's body, and he was killed. The terrorist was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, five magazines of ammunition and five hand grenades. IDF commanders said that they also discovered a bomb in the area, and it was detonated in a controlled explosion.
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