up patrols in Gaza Strip Sunday, December 22, after a Rabbi was shot and killed in the area, news reports said.
40-year-old Rabbi Yitzhak Arama was driving with his wife and six children on the Kissufim corridor road, en route to a wedding celebration, when the ambush happened Friday, December 20, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) reported.
"A single bullet penetrated the car door and struck Arama in the chest," said the ICEJ News Service. The family’s six-month-old daughter, strapped into her car-seat next to her father, was reportedly unharmed in the attack.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY?
Tzvi Hendel, a member of the Israeli Parliament known as the Knesset, told reporters the attack was prove that the government must "finally dismantle the Palestinian Authority, send all the murderers and their leaders back to Tunis."
The ICEJ News Service quoted a resident as describing the killed Rabbi as an "unbelievable combination of the ultimate in humility and Torah knowledge."
RESPECTED AUTHOR
Arama was the author of a commentary on Kohelet (Ecclesiastics), published in memory of 18-year-old Itamar Yefet, who was killed in the same area by Palestinian militants, two years ago.
The Islamic Jihad terror group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. Eye-witnesses said security forces demolished several shanties overlooking the road from where terrorists were believed to have shot. A number of Palestinians were apparently detained for questioning.
The army also carried out "two separate incursions the central Gaza Strip and arrested five fugitives and nine other Palestinians," the ICEJ News Service said.
HOMES SEARCHED
Security forces searched the homes of three terrorists suspects where they discovered weapons, mortar launchers and mortar shells, telescopic lenses, electronic detonators, ammunition and intelligence documents.
News about the latest tensions came as the opposition Labor party revealed its plans for a road to peace ahead of next month’s general elections. It includes a unique governance of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem with respect to the three monotheistic religions and withdrawal from the Gaza strip.
Analysts note this would mean the effective division of Jerusalem into respective Jewish and Arab neighborhoods and evacuation of the Jewish communities in Gaza. An increasing number of Christians are also leaving the troubled area.
