Six Murdered in Terror Attack in Jerusalem

INN

Six people were murdered and 20 others injured in a Monday morning shooting attack at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem.

Twelve of the victims were evacuated to hospitals, among them seven whose condition is serious: two women aged around 50, a woman of 35, and men aged 26, 50, 63, and 70. Two victims are in moderate condition and three were lightly injured by broken glass. Several people were treated for shock.

Levi Yitzhak Pash, Yaakov Pinto, Yisrael Matsner, Yosef David, Sarah Mendelson and Dr. Mordechai Steintzag were named as six victims of the attack.

The Kol Torah Yeshiva in Jerusalem announced early Monday afternoon that yeshiva employee and maintenance man Levi Yitzhak Pash was one of those killed in a Ramot Junction terror attack.

In a statement, the yeshiva said that Pash “did many good deeds, gave of his money, and often occupied himself with learning Torah.” The statement also added that Pash was well-known in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem as a dedicated person who was always involved in acts of kindness.

His funeral will leave from the yeshiva later on Monday.

Yaakov Pinto, 25, is a newlywed who immigrated from Spain.

Yisrael Matsner, 28, lived in Jerusalem.

Yosef David, 43 years old from the Ramot neighborhood, was murdered on his way to yeshiva, with his holy books still in his hands.

Dr. Mordechai Steintzag, also known as “Dr. Mark,” 79 years old and also a resident of Ramot, owned “Dr. Mark’s Bakery” in Beit Shemesh; he immigrated to Israel from the US decades ago.

Sarah Mendelson, 60 years old from the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem, was also murdered in the attack.

The public is asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of the victims, including a woman in her 8th month of her first pregnancy: Tova Gittel bas Miriam Shoshanah b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael.

Another one of the victims was HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Chaim Sharbani, one of the Roshei Yeshivos of Yeshiva Maor HaTorah. He was hit by a bullet but B’Chasdei Hashem, his life is not in danger. His name for tefillah is הרב יעקב חיים בן תמר איבון.

The terrorists opened fire at a Line 62 bus which was standing in a traffic jam, and at a hitchhiking stop full of people. Seven people were evacuated to hospitals for medical treatment, among them one person in critical condition and four people in serious condition.

According to eyewitnesses, the terrorists boarded the bus and began shooting at the passengers’ heads from close range, using automatic weapons. An unconfirmed report said the terrorists boarded disguised as inspectors.

Two terrorists were shot dead by a haredi IDF soldier and an armed civilian haredi yeshiva student, and police forces are conducting extensive searches of the area, cordoning it off and searching for additional terrorists. Large numbers of police forces are at the scene. It is believed that the terrorists used a Carlo submachine gun, manufactured in Judea and Samaria.

Following the terror attack, the crossings near Jerusalem were closed, and Palestinian Authority Arabs were blocked from using them to exit or enter pre-1967 Israel. The Central Command, Israel Police and ISA are clarifying the details and identities of the terrorists.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to the scene of the attack and said: “We are at war with terror on several fronts. We will destroy Hamas and free our hostages, sadly we were unable to prevent this morning’s attack.”

Referring to the response on the ground, Netanyahu said, “A soldier from the haredi Chashmonaim Brigade acted with amazing composure. Two haredi civilians who were armed assisted him. We must understand that we are all in this war — we must stand together.”