As visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rice praises PA anti-terror efforts,
an IDF soldier was killed today of wounds he sustained in a Palestinian
anti-tank missile attack late this morning.

Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack, and the three were flown to
Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva for treatment. One soldier is in light
condition, and the second is in moderate condition. Doctors attempted to save the
third soldier’s life for over two hours on the operating table, but were
unsuccessful.

The soldiers were engaged in engineering works on a separation wall between
the Philadelphi Route and PA-controlled Gaza when they were attacked. The
Philadelphi Route runs along the Israeli-Egyptian border in southern Gaza.

It was reported later in the afternoon that the dead soldier was Avi
Karuchi, 25, a reserves soldier from Be’er Sheva. He was engaged to be married two
months from now. He is survived by his parents, a brother and two sisters.

One attacking terrorist was killed when Israeli forces returned fire.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack, which occurred as PA leaders
continue to say they are committed to the “lull” in terrorism.

Several Arab terror attacks have occurred in this area of late. The IDF has
been engaged over the past several weeks in building a wall along the route
to enable free mobility for the IDF forces searching for weapons-smuggling
tunnels. The work on the 7-9-meter high wall is being carried out under heavy
protection.

On Sabbath, IDF and GSS forces arrested a 21-year-old Islamic Jihad wanted
terrorist who had planned to carry out a suicide attack in Israel. The
terrorist, Raami Muhammed Hassan Kandil, was out of jail just four months when he
was arrested. He was released from Israeli prison this past February in the
first stage of the terrorist release that was decided upon in the Sharm
el-Sheikh summit. The release was meant to bolster Abu Mazen in the PA public.

Israeli security forces uncovered an explosives lab in Jenin on Friday
night, with 50 kilograms of explosives inside. IDF sappers safely blew it up.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 20th, 2005 and is filed under news.