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Four soldiers killed in Jerusalem attack laid to rest
The four Israeli soldiers killed in Sunday’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem were all buried yesterday at cemeteries across the country.
The funeral of 20-year-old Erez Orbach took place yesterday morning at the Kfar Etzion cemetery, near the family’s home in Alon Shvut. Orbach had been exempt from military service for medical reasons, but insisted on joining the IDF as his civic duty. During the afternoon, 20-year-old Shira Tzur was buried in her home city of Haifa. She had begun her military service training to be an air force pilot before transferring to a different unit.
22-year-old Shir Hajaj was laid to rest at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery, where she was eulogised by two sisters. Before the ceremony, her uncle told Army Radio that Hajaj was supposed to give a lecture on Sunday to cadets at Mount Herzl, “and today we are burying her there”. Later in the afternoon, 22-year-old Yael Yekutiel was buried at Kiryat Shaul cemetery near Tel Aviv. She too was eulogised by her siblings at a ceremony attended by hundreds of soldiers.
All four were killed after Fadi al-Qanbar from the Arab neighbourhood of Jabel Mukabeer ploughed a truck into a group of soldiers who were on an educational tour at the nearby Armon Hanatziv promenade in Jerusalem. Yesterday, al-Qanbar’s three brothers were arrested on suspicion that they knew of his intentions.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “all signs” indicated al-Qanbar was an ISIS supporter. Sunday’s attack was similar in method to recent attacks in Berlin and Nice, which were linked to ISIS.
An unknown Palestinian group calling itself the “Martyr Baha Alyan Collective” claimed yesterday that it had carried out Sunday’s attack. Baha Alyan was one of two terrorists who killed three Israelis on a bus in Armon Hanatziv in 2015.
Hamas held a celebratory rally in Gaza following Sunday’s attack.
Hamas leader Fathi Hamad told the crowd: “The message… is a message of encouragement and support for every jihadi who carries out an attack that puts an end to the acts of the Zionist enemy.”