The murder of an Israel Defense Force soldier Saturday night by armed Palestinians has heightened concern that the intifada is increasingly resorting to firearms, something its leadership avoided in the past in order to gain and retain sympathy abroad.
Sgt. Yoram Cohen, 20, whose home was a moshav in the Ta’anach region, near Afula, was the 11th IDF soldier killed in the administered territories since the Palestinian uprising began in December 1987.
Cohen was buried Sunday. His flag-draped coffin was followed by hundreds of local farm families as it was borne to the cemetery near his home. The young soldier was eulogized by the commander of the Givati Brigade.
According to an IDF announcement, Cohen was one of several soldiers in patrol cars attacked by two gunmen firing an Uzi submachine gun and a Soviet-made Kalachnikov assault rifle from concealed positions at a range of about 100 feet. He was killed instantly, the IDF said.
The fire was returned. IDF troops confined the residents of Jenin and six neighboring villages to their homes while they combed the area for the assailants. The entire region was placed under nighttime curfew for one week.
Military sources said members of terrorist cells have recently been roaming the Jenin region, searching for targets to shoot at.
Firearms are readily available in the territories, most of them stolen from IDF camps or bought on the black market.
In other violence, two Arab youths were fatally shot by Israeli soldiers Saturday during a rock-throwing incident in Nablus.
At least 827 Palestinians and 68 Israelis have died in the intifada to date. Another 397 Palestinians have been killed by fellow Arabs.
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