Two persons, including a mother and an infant, were killed in the terrorist attack in Moshav Chamra, in the central Jordan Valley.

At about 8:00pm Wednesday night, terrorist gunfire was directed at a patrol in the community. Two terrorists infiltrated the community in the area of the hothouses. A shootout ensued while reinforcements responded. Forces from the Nahal Hareidi unit assigned to the Jordan Valley area responded while the ‘Yomam’ anti-terror tactical unit responded. It was a Yomam force that eventually stormed a home taken over by the terrorists, killing one of them. A search is still underway for a second terrorist. Roadblocks have been set up on the roads heading to nearby PA-controlled Jericho as well as in other directions.

Moshav Chamra is a small agricultural community in the Jordan valley numbering about 40 families. It was established in 1970. Unfortunately, the community is no stranger to terrorism. On 9 Sept. 2001, 42-year-old Yaakov (Kobi) Chatzav, a resident of the moshav, was killed in a shooting attack. On November 29th, a community resident was wounded by terrorist gunfire near the entrance of the community.

The exact number of wounded remains unclear. It appears there are six victims of the attack. What has been confirmed is that three victims were transported to the trauma unit of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem by a military helicopter. Two are in light condition and the third, a female, is in very critical condition.

Hizbullah television is reporting the terrorist responsible for the attack was a member of the Izzadin el-Kassim wing of Hamas.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2002 and is filed under hotnews.