A fatal terrorist attack on the Tunnels Highway between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem claimed the lives of two IDF soldiers this morning.

Around 6 AM, Palestinian terrorists opened fire from very close range at an Israeli car, murdering one soldier on the spot and seriously wounding another. A doctor and a Magen David Adom medical crew that both happened to arrive on the scene from different directions administered emergency treatment. They accompanied the wounded victim to a hospital, but he died within an hour of the attack.

The names of the two victims were released shortly after noon: Warrant Officer Shlomi Belsky, 23, of Haifa, and Sgt. Sha’ul Lahav, 20, from Kibbutz Shomerat.

Security forces closed off the highway as they combed the area for the murderers. By 8:30 this morning, they had already managed to open and re-close it, after a device that appeared to contain explosives was found.

Other passengers in the targeted car said that the terrorist who approached the car did not arouse suspicion - but then removed a Kalachnikov rifle from under a blanket he was carrying and began spraying fire. He arrived on foot from the nearby Arab town of El Khader, which has since been placed under curfew.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2003 and is filed under hotnews.