A 17-year-old Israeli girl was killed, and her father and brother were severely wounded, in a bomb attack on Aug. 23 at a nature reserve in the West Bank.
Rina Shnerb of Lod, her father, Rabbi Eitan Shnerb, and her brother Dvir, 19, were hiking at the Ein Bubin natural spring reserve when they were attacked with an explosive device, possibly a grenade, hurled at them from a passing vehicle, according to reports by the Magen David Adom ambulance service and other sources.
The spring, which was named for a terrorist attack victim who died in 2015, is a popular destination for hikers. It is near the West Bank settlement of Dolev, east of Modi’in.
The Israel Air Force rescue unit, 669, evacuated the three wounded people from the scene of the attack while treating their injuries. Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Ronen Manelis said the army considered the blast to be a “serious terror attack.”
Rina Shnerb was laid to rest on Aug. 23, with hundreds of people in her hometown attending the funeral. Her father and brother were unable to attend because of their injuries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was receiving constant updates on the search effort for the perpetrators. In a statement, he offered “deep condolences” to the family. “We will continue to strengthen [Jewish] communities,” he said. “We will spread our roots deeper and strike out at our enemies. …
“Security force are in pursuit of the vile terrorists. We will reach them. Our long arm will pay them their dues.”
According to local media, Rabbi Shnerb said, “Rina, to me, is a martyr of the people of Israel. With God’s help we will grow stronger, we will build more, study more Torah, be stronger. My wife and I, this is our message.”
In his eulogy, Rina’s uncle, Henry Weisberg, said, “There are moments when we understand how big our struggle here is and how difficult this war of love versus hate, hope versus despair, light versus darkness is. I want to send you one message that we all received here from Eitan, the father of the family, who is now at the hospital — he asked us, during and after the funeral, to only deal with our strengths, the love within us, this wonderful people of ours and the good land we were blessed to return to. …
“Let’s not deal with weakness, anger or quarrel. Let us be worthy of the sacrifice we’ve sacrificed today.”
Cnaan Liphshiz writes for the JTA global news agency and wire service. Portions of this article came from other international media sources.
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