Arab terrorists kill 8 7 at Jerusalem yeshiva, 6 wounded

I just spoke to my son, it wasn't his yeshiva, he's okay, thank Gd.

May Hashem avenge the blood of these boys.

(IsraelNN.com) Two Arab terrorists infiltrated Jerusalem's Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva at around 8:30 Thursday night and murdered eight Jews. At least six people have been wounded; three are in critical condition and a fourth victim was wounded moderately.

The attackers entered from two separate entrances to the yeshiva and opened fire on the students before one of them was gunned down himself by an armed civilian. Witnesses say that the attack began in the seminary's library.

The second terrorist hid in the yeshiva building, with subsequent reports indicating that the attacker was killed by responding security forces. Police are deployed in the surrounding neighborhood, and scoured the yeshiva and connected buildings. Most students in the building were evacuated after taking cover in the yeshiva's bomb shelter, according to police spokesmen.

Fifty ambulances responded to the scene, which emergency responders have called "a major incident." The wounded were evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital.

In Gaza City, Arab residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in the air in celebration of the attack against the Jews of Jerusalem.

Police forces are on heightened alert throughout the country.

The Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva is located near the entrance to Jerusalem, in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood. The yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Avaraham Yitzchak Kook, is at the heart of the national-religious movement in Israel.

IHT/AP:

Yitzhak Dadon, a student, said he was armed with a rifle and waited on the roof of a nearby building. "He came out of the library spraying automatic fire ... the terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head," he said.

In Gaza, the militant Hamas stopped just short of claiming responsibility. "We bless the (Jerusalem) operation. It will not be the last," Hamas said in a statement.

In Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the seminary. Thousands marched in northern Gaza.

My son is not allowed to leave his yeshiva tonight, so I've been reading him the news. In turn, he's reading me Tehillim (Psalms).

UPDATE:

(IsraelNN.com) Police confirmed Thursday that one of those killed in a terrorist shooting in Jerusalem on Thursday night was the terrorist himself. Seven of those killed were students in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva, they said.

Three students were seriously wounded in the attack, and four were lightly wounded, including two who were initially thought to be in moderate condition. Police now believe that a single terrorist was responsible for the attack.

UPDATE - Carl in Jerusalem:

There is a 16-year old who suffered a chest wound, which leads me to believe the attack may have taken place in the high school.

My wife has a nephew there as well. At 10:00 (less than twenty minutes ago), Israel Radio reported eight killed and six wounded - the same as Arutz Sheva reported. The entrance to Jerusalem is closed and the police are hunting for a second terrorist. But as of now, only one terrorist has been found and he did not have a suicide belt.

They have an interview with one of the Yeshiva students, Yitzchak Nadon. They heard were in the Beit Medrash (study hall) and heard shooting from the library. The student went on the roof and pulled his revolver. This student claims that he shot the terrorist in the head twice and then someone else with an M-16 rifle finished him off.

Students were taken to Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaarei Tzedek. Shaarei Tzedek is closer to the Yeshiva but Hadassah has departments that Shaarei Tzedek doesn't have. Police blocking streets throughout the area.

Eight Israeli boys were murdered tonight.

UPDATE: 10:32 PM Israel Time:

My wife's nephew in the high school that is part of Merkaz HaRav is also - thank God - okay. Unfortunately, a lot of other boys are not.

My 16-year old daughter reports that Olmert has been sitting and chatting with foreign minister Tzipi Livni since hearing of the attack. I am reminded of the verse at the end of the third chapter of Megillat Esther which will be read two weeks from tonight - "The King and Haman sat to drink and the City of Shushan wallowed in sorrow." But I can't decide which of them is the King and which is Haman.

"al-Beeb" via Israel Matzav (Carl):

Omri notes, via Israellycool updates, that the terrorist was an Israeli citizen, resident of Jerusalem, with an identity card. Omri says this helps explain how there could have been such a massive intelligence failure.

Dozens of terrorist attacks are stopped while the bomber is already en route to the attack. But there's not much time to do that if all he has to do is cross the street.

[....]

UPDATE 06 (12:22 PST): An Israeli police spokesman: "They opened fire on innocent youngsters studying." Which is a point worth noting. The Palestinians routinely use schools for military purposes - but if Israel ever targeted them inside of one the hysteria from human rights organizations would be deafening. But terrorist attacks on students studying in a religious school? That's just a cycle of violence.

UPDATE:

Israellycool

UPDATE: I'm moving the Sderot story down to here, so people will see the yeshiva story at the top. Oy Gd. I'm a wreck.

(IsraelNN.com) Four people were wounded in a rocket attack on Sderot on Thursday evening. One of the victims, who was in his house when it sustained a direct hit, suffered moderate head wounds. Three passersby suffered light injuries.

A second rocket hit a gas tank, causing a fire. Firefighters managed to gain control of the blaze.

More from Israellycool:

10:57PM: I wish I had seen this:

The part-time yeshiva student who killed the terrorist, 40-year-old Yitzchak Dadon, said that he shot the attacker in the head with his personal weapon. David Shapira, a yeshiva student and officer in the paratroopers, heard the shots from his nearby home, ran to the yeshiva and “finished him off.”

Asked by a Channel 2 TV reporter what weapon the Palestinian Authority terrorist had, Dadon said, “A Kalachnikov,” and turning to the camera, he angrily added, “The Kalachnikov that you gave him, President Peres…”

11:00PM: It is still not clear whether the terrorist’s blue identity card was authentic or not. So it is not certain he was an Arab Israeli citizen.

11:02PM: Now I am hearing 8 dead + the terrorist.

....

(hat tip: Israel Matzav)11:08PM: Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter has discussed the proper responses to the attack with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Actually, I shouldn’t say “proper”, since no doubt our response will be weak (as usual).

11:17PM: The anchor on Channel 2 just said that politics does not come into it (the yeshiva is affiliated with the religious Zionist movement); this was a case of young people being gunned down while studying.

11:20PM: Unbelievable headline: Two Palestinians killed in west Jerusalem attack: TV

(via LGF)

11:25PM: The insanity continues: Arabs have attacked Israeli drivers near the town of Ofra, lightly wounding a man.

I am so frustrated….

Foreign MInistry, blahblahblah:

The Foreign Ministry published an announcement in response to the terror attack in Jerusalem that left eight dead in which it said that the attack "expresses in a nefariousl manner the fundamental principles of the radicals for whom Palestinian terrorism acts in the name of.

"Israel will never allow terrorism to achieve its goals. Abhorrent terrorist attacks like these need to strengthen the understanding of the meaning of the terror threat. Against terrorism such as this, there must be a clear, vehement and uncompromising stand," the statement read.

Israellycool:

11:52PM: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called the attack an ”act of terror and depravity.” I wonder if she also asked us to exercise restraint.

I have to stop now, I'm sick. If I pick it up later, I'll start a new post.

Comments

[Hope]

I was downtown nearby there tonight when it happened. I thought of your son; I'm so glad to hear he's ok. Praying for the ones who are not...

[Irene]

Thank G-d your son is unharmed. I join you and other Jews wishing these terrorist a life of hell; not death, that would be too easy and it's what they want.

[mullah cimoc]

Mullah Cimoc say: Look like him israeli student school big connect to israeli military. How many Palestinian student killed by israeli and no complaint? But when zionist terror enablers are attack so much the big sad? This show bias of usa media. For usa media there is never time when wrong for jew to kill muslim and never a time when it is right for a muslim to kill a jew. This the double standard. For this amriki society now so destroy. Economic destroy then aemriki to fight aztec for the scraps. AM this the just punish?

[scp]

Mrs. Lieberman, I'm glad your son is okay.

[scp]

"mullah cimoc," you probably have no idea how stupid you sound, do you? (...and you did this to yourself.) Do you actually watch the "amriki" media? Someone like you should be happy that they report things the way that they do, because if they were to report on the Middle East *fairly* and *accurately*, then the whole world--everyone except for you and your species--would see your side as the murderous, barbaric dogs that they are.

[Irene]

Mullah Cimoc, You are the epitome of a hateful person. I refuse to believe you are representative of anything but ignorance and hate.You take all that is human and turn it to dust. To you I say, we the Jewish people will live. Am Ysrael Chai!

[J. Lichty]

May Hashem avenge the blood of these boys. Hashem helps those who help themselves. It is our job on this earth to protect our sons and to avenge the tormenters of the Jewish people. In 1948 we declared that we would take our own destiny into our hands and never again would we leave our security to others. It is time that our enemies were put on the back foot and beaten so soundly that they sue for peace. It is the only way. Nothing strikes more at the heart of this war - not the random missles into the beleagured development town of Sderot, not a bombing at a disco in Tel Aviv and not even the sniping murder of a revenant over the green line - than an attack in a place of jewish learning in our ancient capitol. It strikes right at the heart of what this conflict is about -- not land, but our existence as Jews. There is no more profound a symbol of that than these young men -- the guardians of the future of our faith and our law. May WE avenge their deaths.

[Yael]

JLichty, I would say BOTH... We and He.

[Irene]

YAEL, AMEN.