Current mood:

worried

Zelfmoordaanslag in Kedumim! Klote-arabieren!

The suicide bombing occured when the attacker blew himself up inside an Israeli car near a gas station at the entrance to the northern West Bank settlement.

Two of the four Israelis killed included an elderly couple - Rafi and Helena Halevy - who lived in the settlement for 20 years. Their funeral was scheduled to be held in Kedumim on Sunday. They are survivied by their four children, one of whom is a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF.

Another victim was Reut Feldman, a 20-year-old youth from Herzliya who volunteered for national service in Kedumim. Her funeral was planned to be conducted later on Friday following a definite identification of the body.

Israel Radio reported that Feldman was on her way from a course in Ra'anana back to Kedumim to work a night shift in the West Bank town.

Feldman's aunt revealed that Reut's mother objected to the youth's request to extend her national service by an additional year, for fear of terrorist attacks. Reut's friends told Israel Radio that several months ago she brought her family great pride when she identified a terrorist on his way to perform an attack on Kedumim.

The fourth victim was a young man whose name was not yet published until his family could be notified.

The IDF said it appeared that Israelis traveling in the car apparently picked up a Palestinian wearing an explosive belt, dressed as a haredi hitchhiker. A Kedumim official said that there was no way that the passengers could have known the man was a terrorist.

The car, which was utterly burned in the explosion, had yellow plates and was not reported stolen, leading security officials to believe that the Israelis had mistakenly picked up a Palestinian suicide bomber, believing that he was a Jewish Israeli.

Parts of the vehicle flew as far as 60 meters from the site of the explosion.

The suicide bomber was identified as 24-year-old Ahmad Mashrake. He was released from a Palestinian prison less than one month ago.