Authorities probe Gazan's breach into moshav

"We're lucky this wasn't a 2nd Itamar," says head of Sde Avraham emergency team after Palestinian stabs woman in South.

By BEN HARTMAN
Israeli soldiers on Gaza border 370 (photo credit: Reuters/Amir Cohen)
Israeli soldiers on Gaza border 370
(photo credit: Reuters/Amir Cohen)
Though the attempted murder of a resident of Sde Avraham by an infiltrator from the Gaza Strip on Monday morning remains under investigation by the IDF and Israel Police, new details have emerged about the incident that could have very easily ended in far more bloodshed.
On his way to Sde Avraham, the attacker somehow managed to cut through the electric security fence on the border with Gaza, and make his way on foot several kilometers to the Eshkol region security fence and finally the fence of Sde Avraham, all without being detected.
The man was only detected when he began fighting with the resident of the house, and neighbors notified the moshav security team who went into pursuit of the attacker and alerted the IDF units nearby.
The resident of the house, Yael Raam-Matzpun, a mother of three who was home alone, sustained light stab wounds to her shoulder and face, but managed to fight off the attacker and force him to flee.
“We’re lucky this didn’t end with a second Itamar; this needs to be a wake-up call about our security,” said Tzadok Adamon Edri, the head of the emergency response team in Sde Avraham.
Edri was referring to the March 2011 attack in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, in which five members of the same family, including a five-month-old infant, were stabbed to death by two Palestinians from the nearby village of Awarta.
The 34-year-old father of three said the Itamar attack was on the minds of many residents of the moshav on Tuesday, as well as what he called a series of security failures that paved the way for the attacker to make his way to the moshav.
“As far as I understand there were security failures at every stage of the event,” Edri said. “This is an incident that should lead to an uproar so that something like this does not happen again.”
Edri said that the attack has put some residents of the Eshkol Region on edge since it happened, but that by and large people in the area are used to dealing with warnings and threats and occasional rocket and mortar fire from Gaza.
Also on Tuesday, OC Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Tal Russo said “we are studying yesterday’s intrusion.
We will provide full protection for Gaza-border communities.”
The incident took place around 4 a.m. on Monday morning in Sde Avraham, which lies very near the borders with the Gaza Strip and Egypt. IDF soldiers who were called to the scene pursued the man and attempted to arrest him, but were forced to open fire and kill him when he threatened the soldiers, the IDF said on Monday.
The army would not confirm if the man’s body had been returned to Gaza or if he is known to be a member of any armed organization.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.