Funeral services were held at Kibbutz Kissufim yesterday for Reuben Foyer, 25 and Elaine Gazit, 22, who were killed Saturday in the first of two grenade attacks on Israeli vehicles in downtown Gaza. A local Arab passerby was totally wounded and eight other persons, including one Israeli civilian and two soldiers, were injured.
Several of the numerous suspects detained for questioning over the weekend were jailed today and security sources said they were certain these were the perpetrators of the outrage. The curfew clamped on Gaza immediately after the attacks was lifted today by the military governor. Traffic from Israel to the Gaza Strip was resumed after having been halted temporarily.
Foyer and Gazit, both civilians, were sitting in an army pick-up truck when the grenade exploded. The Arab passer-by not immediately identified, was severely injured and taken to Tel Hoshomer Hospital where he died. The others were injured when a second grenade was thrown at an Israeli car in the same vicinity about 90 minutes later. It missed the car and exploded in a crowd of people on the sidewalk.
Foyer was an immigrant from Argentina who joined Kibbutz Kissufim in 1973 as a member of the Dror youth movement. Gazit, who lived in Tel Aviv, belonged to a group planning to join the kibbutz and was also buried in the cemetery there. Foyer’s parents, Hanna and Itzhak and his sisters, Diana and Karin, settled in Israel in 1975 and were members of the kibbutz.
SUSPECTS HELD IN SLOMA MURDER
Mayor Rashad A-Showa of Gaza, expressed regret over the incidents and said he was against violence. He claimed the grenade assaults were in reaction to the government’s plans to resettle Jews in the West Bank Arab town of Hebron. Israeli sources tended to believe that the latest terror act in Gaza was in response to the imminent exchange of ambassadors between Israel and Egypt.
In other developments, police have detained two suspects in the Jan. 31 murder of 23-year-old yeshiva student Yehoshua Sloma in Hebron. According to police, the suspects are brothers and one was an eye-witness to the murder.
In Tulkorem on the West Bank, five terrorist suspects were charged by a military tribunal today with planning to place a bomb in the center of Petach Tikva. The bomb exploded prematurely, injuring one of the suspects who was hospitalized Under questioning, he admitted the plot and implicated the others, the authorities said.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
