On September 5, 2002, during the Second Intifada, a Merkava II tank was driving along a dirt road near the Kissufim crossing following figures identified as "suspicious" when it was blown up by a 100-kilogram bomb buried under the road.[1] Sgt. Aviad Dotan (21) of Nir Galim was killed instantly; three soldiers were wounded. It took five hours to extricate the surviving soldiers from the burning tank.[1][2]

The tank commander was blown out of the turret hatch but landed unharmed.[1][3][4][5] It was the third deadly Palestinian assault on an Israeli tank in 2002.[5]

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the incident began on the previous night, when anti-tank missiles were fired at an army post.[2][5] Soldiers and the tank were sent to search for the rocket launchers, and militants detonated the bomb under the tank.[2][5]

An Arab umbrella group dominated by Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization claimed responsibility, stating, "This operation came to prove that Palestinian fighters are capable of reaching everywhere.[2][5]

Response

Israel responded to the ambush by launching a helicopter missile strike at a metal workshop or foundry being used as a bomb factory in Khan Younis.[2] The bomb-making factory was empty when it was targeted, there were no casualties.[2][6][7][8]

Israel's defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer reacted at a meeting of his Labor Party by stating that Israel would not return occupied areas of the Gaza Strip to the control of the Palestinian Authority, as it had pledged to do the previous month.[2]

Israeli fatalities

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sgt. Aviad Dotan". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Anderson, John Ward (6 September 2002). "Israel Hits Suspected Bomb Shop In Gaza". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. ^ Tamara Traubman and Tsahar Rotem (September 5, 2002). "IDF officer killed in shooting attack in northern Gaza Strip". Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  4. ^ "Sgt. Aviad Dotan". September 5, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e Traubman, Tamara (5 September 2002). "IAF Helicopters Strike in Gaza; 2 Soldiers Killed in Strip". Haaretz. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  6. ^ MacAskill, Ewen (6 September 2002). "Israelis foil big car bomb attack". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. ^ Collins, Dan (5 September 2002). "Israel Thwarts Massive Bombing". CBS.
  8. ^ "Israel prevents huge terror blast". St. Petersburg Times. AP. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  9. ^ "Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved Dec 28, 2011.

External links

Prominent Palestinian militancy attacks in the 2000s
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