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Palestinian Terrorists kill two Israeli women in separate attacks

HaaretzDaily | 10.02.2002 06:55

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Palestinian Terrorists kill two Israeli women in separate attacks
Palestinian Terrorists kill two Israeli women in separate attacks


Terrorists killed two Israeli women over the weekend, one in Jerusalem and one in the northern West Bank.

Four Palestinians, all aged 14 to 16, repeatedly stabbed Moran Amit, 25, of Kibbutz Kfar Hanasi, while she was strolling on the Sherover Promenade in Jerusalem's Armon Hanatziv neighborhood Friday afternoon. She died a few hours later.

Atala Lipovsky, 79, was shot dead at about 9:45 P.M. on Friday while driving on the Trans-Samaria Highway with her son, Victor. Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the car, apparently from an ambush, between Ariel and the Tapuah Junction. She was hit in the head but managed to continue driving to Tapuah, where she died as medics began administering first aid. Her son, who was lightly injured, was taken to Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment. The perpetrators escaped.

Lipovsky, a resident of the settlement of Ma'aleh Ephraim, immigrated from the Ukraine in 1993. She will be buried today in Kfar Sava. She is survived by two sons, both residents of Ma'aleh Ephraim, and grandchildren.

The knife attack on Amit took place at about 1:15 P.M. on Friday. Policemen were called to the area by a woman who saw the four masked youths prowling and armed with knives. When they arrived, they were met by Gil Nevo, who said he and his girl-friend had been attacked and Amit had fled toward the nearby Peace Forest. He, who was not injured, ran to summon help from the approaching police car.

Police began an immediate search for Amit but found her only some 40 minutes later. She was taken to Hadassah Hospital, where she later died of her wounds.

Other policemen began hunting the attackers. They eventually spotted the youths and called for them to stop, but they kept running, whereupon police opened fire, injuring one in the arm.

After a lengthy hunt involving helicopters, police eventually caught the four, all of whom are from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Tor. One of the youths, Samar Abu Miala, 14, collapsed and died a few minutes after he was arrested. Police say it appears he suffered a heart attack and denied that they hit him.

However, an Arab eyewitness, Adham Jawan of Abu Dis, said he saw police beat the youth and shoot his hand and foot. The body has been sent to the Institute for Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir for an autopsy.

The three remaining youths confessed to stabbing Amit and reenacted the crime for the police. They were remanded for nine days last night. Police did not find any guns although witnesses had reported them carrying firearms as well.

Police said the four had been involved in a number of attacks in that part of Jerusalem in recent months, including two attempted stabbings, throwing Molotov cocktails at houses, and trying to set a building on fire by lighting cylinders of cooking gas. The youths led the police to a cave where they said they met to plan their attacks and police found another knife there.

The youths' lawyer, Mohammed Dik, said they confessed to stabbing Amit but denied all the other incidents in which police say they were involved, and Abu Miala's family denies he was involved in the murder.

Amit, a law student at Haifa University, will be buried later this week at a date to be set, since the family is waiting for her two brothers to return from abroad. In addition to her studies, Amit worked for Yedioth Ahronoth's Internet news site, Ynet, managing its singles forum. She is survived by her parents, two brothers and a sister.

Charlotte Halle adds:

Kibbutz Kfar Hanasi was founded in 1948 by British members of the Zionist youth movement, Habonim, including Moran's grandparents Tommy Amit and Marion Gershman. The couple, who have since both remarried, immigrated shortly after the establishment of the state. Both are retired and still live on the kibbutz.

Marion is a former Londoner and Tommy, a keen archaeologist, was born in Germany and raised in Britain. Their son, Gadi, was Moran's father. Moran's mother, Ruthie, was born in New York and moved to Israel as a teenager. Her only remaining relative in the United States is a elderly aunt.

Secretary of the kibbutz, Sarita Cina, says because Moran was "such a lovely girl" and her family is so central to the kibbutz, the impact of her death on kibbutz members will be very great. She added Moran's peers on the kibbutz were "absolutely heartbroken."

HaaretzDaily

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