Massacre at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem,

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1 Massacre at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, NewsZAKA No. 3 1

2 SLAUGHTERED WHILE LEARNING GEMARA * Horrific scenes in the Mercaz Harav library * Zaka volunteers among the first to reach the scene * Yehuda Meshi-Zahav: "It looked like a slaughterhouse" * Avi Katz: "This is the worst I have seen" Even the most experienced and hardened ZAKA volunteers could barely cope with the difficult and harrowing scenes of 8 young yeshiva students lying in rivers of blood on the floor, surrounded by bullet-riddled holy books and blood-soaked tzitzit (ritual fringes). 8 students, all but one aged between 15-18, were murdered and 10 injured by a Palestinian terrorist at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva library on Thursday evening (6 March 2008). Unable to deal with the emotional trauma and the Continued on Page 3 NewsZAKA No. 3 2 Dear Friends and Supporters, After the tragic and horrifying events of last week's terrorist attack on the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, in which 8 students were killed and ten wounded, we decided to publish this special edition of the monthly ZAKA News. The contents of this newsletter are shocking. The pictures are disturbing. The eye-witness accounts from ZAKA volunteers at the site make horrifying reading. But it is important that you know and understand the scope of this tragedy and the brutal evil of this attack. Many of you may not have seen these pictures in the local media. I urge you to forward this e-newsletter to family and friends, so that the true picture of Palestinian terror is plain to see. The ZAKA volunteers are still traumatised by their work that Thursday evening, but, with your support, they will continue to answer every call for help, whenever and wherever it comes. Yehuda Meshi Zahav, C.E.O. David Zilbershlag, Chairman of The Management Board

3 SLAUGHTERED WHILE LEARNING GEMARA / Continued from Page 2 difficult scene that recalled the Hebron massacre of 67 yeshiva students in 1929, the ZAKA volunteers took turns in working at the terror scene, cleaning the huge pools of blood on the floor, scattered all over the library and the holy books. The ZAKA volunteers were in tears as they held up the hands of the victims for the forensic teams to take fingerprints for identification purposes. The boys' hands, prayer books and Gemaras were riddled with bullet holes, a clear sign that they had tried to defend themselves with their bare hands. Bullet marks on the floor and in the victims' heads confirmed that the terrorist had "confirmed the kill" by shooting the students as they lay wounded on the library floor. The first report of shooting at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva came into the ZAKA hotline at 20:45 on Thursday evening. After several minutes, it became clear that this was a mass casualty incident, the like of which Israel had not seen in four years. Tens of local ZAKA volunteers from the Rapid Response Motorcycle Continued on Page 4 NewsZAKA No. 3 3

4 SLAUGHTERED WHILE LEARNING GEMARA / Continued from Page 3 Unit arrived at the yeshiva while the terror attack was still raging. ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav was one of the first to enter the library: "I arrived to the sound of gunfire from inside the building and saw yeshiva boys, many injured, running out of the building, shouting 'Terrorists! Wounded! At that time, no one really knew what was going on. At a certain stage, the shooting stopped and we went in. "At the entrance to the building, I saw the bodies of two yeshiva boys. I carried on to the library. That first sight was horrific and shocking and I immediately thought of the Hebron massacre. It looked like a slaughterhouse. Everything was upside down, there were injured and dead on the floor, holy books covered in blood, and the terrible cries of the injured. "Then someone shouted that there was an explosive belt on the terrorist's body. There was a moment of panic and fear among the rescue services. It took a while for those boys who had hidden themselves to believe that the nightmare was over and they could come out of their hiding places. After half an hour, we even found one injured boy, shot in the chest, who had been hiding in the basement, too scared to come out, despite his wounds". The experienced ZAKA volunteers set up a control center in the yeshiva courtyard, led by Haim Weingarten and Eliyahu Brand who split the volunteers into teams, sending them in to the library one after the other to ensure that the men took a break from the difficult, emotional work. ZAKA volunteer Avi Katz: "This is the worst thing I have ever seen." The eight bodies were moved into a separate area where they were initially identified by the The victims, may their memory be blessed: Segev Pniel Avihail, 15, of Neve Daniel Neria Cohen,15, of Jerusalem Yonatan Yitzhak Eldar, 16, of Shilo Yonadav Haim Hirshfeld, 19, of Kohav Hashahar Yohai Lifshitz, 18, of Jerusalem Doron Tronoh Maharata, 26, of Ashdod Avraham David Moses, 16, of Efrat Ro'i Rot, 18, of Elkana G-d will avenge their blood. NewsZAKA No. 3 4 yeshiva Rabbis amid scenes of terrible grief and anguish. Body after body was then taken into a separate room for each family to identify their own child. Jerusalem police and ZAKA volunteers cried together as they witnessed these tragic scenes, offering mutual support as they carried out their sacred work throughout the night. When the identification process was complete, ZAKA ambulances took the bodies away for preparation for burial, returning them the next day to the yeshiva for the ceremony and subsequent funerals. Published by: ZAKA Search & Rescue 234 Jaffo St. P.O.Box 36060, Jerusalem Tel: Fax: Website: info@zaka.org.il Editor: Lydia Weitzman Design: Oizer Zilberschlag To subscribe: info@zaka.org.il To donate: ations_e.php

5 Other photos from the scene of the massacre Photos: S. Meshi, ZAKA NewsZAKA No. 3 5

6 The arsenal of weapons used by the terrorist, including the ammunitions belt that was initially mistaken for an explosive belt. The blood-soaked tzitzit of the victims NewsZAKA No. 3 6