Some of the victims of the deadly terror attack in Bnei Brak carried out Tuesday night by a Palestinian gunman were laid to rest on Wednesday.
The terrorist, Diaa Hamarsheh, 27, who entered Israel illegally from the West Bank village of Yabad near Jenin, shot and killed 1st Sgt. Amir Khoury, 32, of Nof HaGalil in northern Israel, as he drove a motorcycle carrying himself and another officer. They were the first police unit to arrive at the scene. Khoury’s partner shot dead Hamarsheh during the gun battle.
Khoury, an Arab Christian, will be laid to rest at Nof HaGalil military cemetery on Thursday.
An officer in the Israel Police, Khoury served as a motorcycle patrolman at the Bnei Brak police station, said the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“He was severely wounded during the attempt to apprehend the terrorist and was evacuated in critical condition to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petach Tikvah. Unfortunately, the medical team was unable to save him, and he died of his wounds soon after,” it said.
He is survived by his parents, a brother and two sisters.
Rabbi Yaakov Shalem, 36, who lived in the Pardes Katz neighborhood of Bnei Brak, was shot dead by the terrorist while in his car. His funeral was held on Wednesday at the Segula cemetery in Petach Tikvah. He is survived by his wife and five children.
Rabbi Avishai Yehezkel, 29, a graduate of the Mishkenot Hatorah Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, was a teacher at the Or David Talmud Torah. He was out walking with his 2-year-old son when the attack took place. In addition to his son, he is survived by his pregnant wife.
Victor Sorokopot, 32, and Dimitri Mitrik, 24, were named as the two Ukrainian nationals also killed in the shooting. They were sitting outside a grocery store when the terrorist opened fire, according to Channel 12.
Their funeral dates were not immediately known.
