Two IDF reserve soldiers were murdered and eight injured in a severe and unusual terror attack at an IDF checkpoint outside the Palestinian village of Tayasir between the northern Shomron and the Jordan Valley early Tuesday morning.

One soldier was later identified as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ofer Yung, H’yd, 39, from Tel Aviv. He served as a squad commander in the Ephraim Regional Brigade’s 8211th Reserve Battalion.

The second soldier was identified as Tzvika Friedman, H’yd, of Ein Hanetziv, a religious kibbutz in northern Israel. He is survived by his wife and six children.

Two of the injured soldiers are in serious condition and six are in light condition.

An initial investigation revealed that the terrorist, who was wearing a khaki-green bulletproof vest and armed with an M-16 assault rifle and two magazines, used the cover of the nighttime darkness to reach the military outpost, which consists of a small military compound of a pillbox and several small structures. He then surprised the soldiers in the early morning light, shortly before 6 a.m., opening fire at very close range at two soldiers who emerged from the pillbox to open the checkpoint for traffic. One soldier was killed immediately and the second was critically injured. Other soldiers ran to assist and a gun battle at very close range that lasted several long minutes took place, initially at the entrance to the pillbox and then within the compound itself.

Two standby alert teams were called to the scene and began to secure the area outside the outpost. A unit commander fired at the terrorist from outside the post, causing the terrorist to try to flee the area, running between the buildings in the compound, where the gun battle continued with the assistance of the soldiers from the two units that arrived at the scene. One soldier threw a grenade at him, neutralizing him, and another two soldiers continued to fire at him, killing him. An armed UAV was deployed at the beginning of the event but the Air Force could not eliminate the terrorist from the air without placing the soldiers at risk.

Medical teams that arrived at the scene had to wait until the gun battle ended to tend to the wounded.

The IDF has launched an investigation into the severe incident.

A large number of IDF forces were deployed to the scene and began carrying out searches and setting up roadblocks to rule out concerns of additional terrorists in the area.

Air Force helicopters, four intensive care units, and three ambulances arrived at the scene, and six additional ambulances were dispatched to the helicopter pads at Rambam Hospital in Haifa and Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva. A MDA helicopter was also dispatched to the area and placed on standby in a nearby area. After initial medical treatment at the scene and at the helicopter pads, the critically wounded soldiers were evacuated to Rambam, and the others were evacuated to Beilinson.

Tayasir is part of a cluster of five villages [known in Hebrew as the “מחומש הכפרים”] in the Jenin area where the IDF recently expanded Operation Iron Wall, an extensive counterterrorism operation in the northern Shomron, in the wake of a deadly terror attack near Kedumim less than a month ago in which three Israeli civilians were murdered.

IDF forces were also bolstered in the area due to the release of terrorists to Palestinian cities and villages as part of the ceasefire/hostage deal, with IDF forces deployed to checkpoints in the area and roadblocks established in Tayasir and nearby villages, such as Tammun and Tubas.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)