On the eve of the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians in Washington, four Israeli civilians were murdered in their vehicle in a terrorist drive-by shooting attack on Route 60 near Kiryat Arba, east of Hebron, on Tuesday evening, August 31, 2010.
The four victims were driving on Route 60 near the entrance to Kiryat Arba when their vehicle came under fire. The victims were named as Yitzhak Ames, 47, and his wife Talya Ames, 45, Kochava Even Chaim, 37, and Avishai Shindler, 24, all from Beit Hagai. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
Only two months ago, on June 14, 2010, an Israeli police officer was murdered by Palestinian gunmen in a similar attack near Al Fawar, south of Hebron, on the same Route 60.
An Israeli couple was wounded Wednesday night (1 September) in a second West Bank shooting attack when Palestinian terrorists opened fire at an Israeli vehicle at Rimonim Junction, near Kochav Hashachar in Samaria.
Yitzhak and Talya Ames were the parents of six children. Talya Ames was nine months pregnant when she was killed by the terrorists.
Kochava Even Chaim was a teacher in Efrat. She left behind her husband and an 8 year-old daughter. Her husband,one of the first Zaka first aid volunteers to arrive at the scene, discovered that his wife was among the victims.
Avishai Shindler had only recently moved to Beit Haggai with his wife.
Prime Minister Netanyahu (in Washington): "We witnessed today a savage murder of four innocent Israelis. There are seven new orphans that were added to the circle of grief in Israel. We will not let the blood of Israeli civilians go unpunished. We will find the murderers. We will punish their dispatchers. We will not let terror decide where Israelis live or the configuration of our final borders.
These and other issues will be determined in the negotiations for peace that we're conducting, and in these negotiations I will set clearly the security needs that are required precisely to address this kind of terror; and I hope to have the opportunity to go into greater detail in my conversations with President Obama tomorrow and with you, Secretary Clinton, today, and the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinians as well."
Defense Minister Barak: "This was a grave and difficult event. The IDF and the security forces will do everything in order to apprehend the murderers. Israel will not allow terrorists to lift their heads and will exact a price from both the murderers and those who dispatched them. Apparently, this was an attempt by reprehensible terrorists to strike at the attempt to jump-start the diplomatic process and hurt the chances of the talks being opened in Washington."
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