The two victims in the Sunday morning terrorist shooting attack in the Barkan Industrial Park have been identified as 28-year-old Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel HY”D and 35-year-old Ziv Hajbi H”YD, both parents of young children.
Both had worked at Alon Group, which manufactures waste management systems, at the Barkan Industrial Park, located near Ariel in the Northern Shomron. Levengrond-Yehezkel was secretary to the CEO and was studying for the bar exam, while Hajbi worked in accounting.
Levengrond-Yehezkel lived in Rosh Ha’ayin, and is survived by her husband, Guy, and their 18-month-old son.
Ziv Hajbi, from Rishon L’Tzion, was a “pure and amazing soul who left behind three children and a wonderful wife”, said his mother Iris.
Levengrond-Yehezkel’s levaya was scheduled for 10:00PM Sunday in Rosh Ha’ayin. Hajbi’s levaya will be held at 2:00PM Monday in the southern community of Moshav Nir Yisrael.
IDF and ISA forces are searching for the Palestinian terrorist who has murdered today in #Barkan 2 Israelis, both are parents of little children.
They have searched his home & arrested a few suspected accomplices.
The terrorist will be apprehended. It's just a matter of time. pic.twitter.com/J4CJBP3a97
— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) October 7, 2018
More than 8,000 workers are employed in Barkan Industrial Park, comprised of about an equal number of Israelis and Palestinians who work side-by-side in about 160 factories.
The suspect, a 23-year-old Palestinian man, was also employed at Alon Group as an electrician. He arrived at the factory shortly before 8:00AM armed with a locally produced Carlo-style submachine gun. Both Yehezkel and Hajbi were bound before being shot dead by the terrorist at close range.
The terrorist fled the scene, still armed with his automatic weapon. The extensive manhunt continues. Security forces, including elite units, Shin Bet agents and police choppers, continue the manhunt for the PA (Palestine Authority) resident who perpetrated the attack, a male in his 20s.
BREAKING: #Palestinian gunman fleeing the terror attack scene in Barkan after injuring 3 Israelis – 2 of them w/ life threatening wounds pic.twitter.com/zWajZvzvMM
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 7, 2018
The IDF would not release the suspect’s name, but said he was from the Palestinian village of Shuweika, near Tulkarem. He was acquainted with his victims. The IDF spokesman said he been absent from work in the days before the shooting but was still employed by the factory, refuting earlier media reports that he had been fired.
According to the IDF, the suspect had no history of terrorist activities and was not tied to any terror groups. Earlier in the day, he had posted on his Facebook page that he was “waiting for [Allah].”
A Hamas spokesman has praised the “terrorist attack”, while adding such actions against the occupation are legitimate. Officials in the Palestinian Authority remain silent following the attack.
The Barkan Industrial Zone has been a model of Israeli–Palestinian coexistence since 1982, with thousands working and prospering together. Today a terrorist shattered that harmony by brutally murdering two Israelis at work. Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael) October 7, 2018
Moshe Lev-Ran, an export manager at a company whose factory is located next to the scene of the attack, said he doubted the official account.
“One of the workers was fired and he didn’t like the owner … Everybody knew him. He went upstairs to the second floor because he knew who he wanted to shoot, and he shot,” he said. “That’s what I think happened. I don’t believe it was one of the Palestinians who just woke up in the morning and took a gun to shoot an Israeli.”
“No way in our industrial zone,” he said, describing an atmosphere of camaraderie in Barkan.
Palestinians in Gaza distributed today candy to passerbys to celebrate the murder this morning of 2 Israelis in #Barken, both parents of little children, by a Palestinian terrorist.
This is a despicable yet common practice in Palestinian society that celebrates terrorists. pic.twitter.com/V8sYABauDi
— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) October 7, 2018
Buried five paragraphs into this @CNN article is that the murder of two Israelis by a Palestinian was, by all indications, a terrorist attack, and not just a workplace dispute. h/t @sfrantzman pic.twitter.com/ac8zSdEmro
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) October 7, 2018
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
It’s scary that any Arab Muslim worker in Israel can turn out to be a terrorist, Hashem yerucheim. Hy”d.
This is the result of starting up with the goyim. If you don’t think this is connected to the IDF killing little boys at the border in Gaza, then you live in a dream. If we keep playing tough guy, we will continue losing people.
@jnn
what do you want to do dissolve the idf then they will come in and kill us for sure at this point we have to fight