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Sgt. Nir Sami, Capt. Tal Bardugo, Sgt. Israel Lutati
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| By israelinsider staff September 23, 2004 |
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Moving through the fog Thursday morning around 6 am, Palestinian gunmen approached an IDF post on the edge of the settlement of Morag in the Gush Katif bloc. The soldiers identified them, but too late to stop the attackers from killing an Israeli officer and two soldiers, wounding at least three, one critically. All three gunmen were killed. Three terror groups took credit.
Those killed in the attack, all from the elite Givati brigade, were Captain Tal Bardugo, 22, from Jerusalem, Sergeant Nir Sami, 21, also from Jerusalem, and Sergeant Yisrael Lutati, 20, from Neveh Dekalim.
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Another soldier was critically injured in the exchange of fire. Two others were less seriously wounded, and a journalist was wounded as well.
A preliminary review indicated significant security lapses.
Apparently the gunmen reached the Morag greenhouses at night, armed with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades, and hid there until before dawn. At about 6:00 a.m., two infiltrated the post through its southern entrance, evading detection from the lookout post there.
According to one account, the two entered the post and split up, one heading toward the position's situation room, where he shot and killed two soldiers sitting inside. Hearing the shooting, the deputy company commander stepped out of his room and was shot and killed. Another account reverses the order of the killing.
The gunmen left the position through the same gate they entered, pursued by other soldiers, who managed to kill them. Only about a minute passed from the moment the attackers entered the post until they were killed by the troops.
The third gunman, hiding outside the post, planted two bombs in the greenhouse area. It is believed that the first two had planned to escape the post, run toward the greenhouses, and when the soldiers pursued them, to detonate the bombs.
From his hiding place, he suddenly started shooting during a journalistic briefing, catching the base by surprise once again. During the exchange of fire, a Yediot Ahronot reporter was lightly wounded in the legs when he exited the post following the briefing.
Three terror organizations claimed responsibility: Islamic Jihad, Fatah faction and Gaza's Popular Resistance Committee.
Brig.-Gen Shmuel Zakai, Gaza Divisional Commander, said the attackers had tried, and partially succeeded, in executing what he described as a "multi-step attack", launching several different attacks in sequence. "In Gaza, we are fighting an unprecedented battle with terrorists constantly attempting to launch attacks. Security forces have succeeded in preventing many of them; but there are also unfortunate incidents such as today, when we lose the best of soldiers. That is the nature of war."
Zakai warned against drawing conclusions before completion of the inquiry. "Only once the probe is finished, then the necessary conclusions regarding how the terrorists managed to enter the post can be made clear," he said.
The residents of Morag, one of three isolated communities outside the main Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip, were ordered to remain inside their homes during the early morning hours. After the initial firefight, residents were allowed out, and children went to school.
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