Rubicon3: Background of the Suicide Bombing in Eilat

January 30, 2007

Background of the Suicide Bombing in Eilat

Eilat Suicide Bomber Crossed Egyptian Border - Revital Levy-Stein, Avi Issacharoff, Nir Hasson, and Jonathan Lis
The Islamic Jihad suicide bomber from Gaza who killed three people on Monday entered Israel through the border with Egypt, several dozen kilometers northwest of Eilat, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer said. An Israeli civilian who unwittingly drove the bomber close to the scene of the attack suspected the man was a terrorist and called the police. Two patrol cars rushed to the scene, but the bomber carried out the attack seven minutes after the call. The Israeli fatalities from the bombing were Haim El-Maliach, 32, Michael Ben-Sa'adon, 27, and Yisrael Samolia, 25, an immigrant from Peru. (Ha'aretz)

Driver Who Picked Up Terrorist Considered Running Him Over - Nir Hasson
Yossi Voltinsky, the man who drove the suicide bomber in Monday's attack in Eilat, was "99 percent sure" his passenger was a suicide bomber. He considered crashing his car or running over the man but did not "because of the 1 percent chance that maybe he was innocent, maybe a crazy, how would I be able to live with that?" Voltinsky, a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves, said, "As soon as I looked at him in the rearview mirror, I saw that something was wrong - he wore a windbreaker zipped to the neck, with a big backpack strapped on. He kept one hand in his pocket, his eyes darted around, he was very nervous. He acted very unnaturally. I asked him where he was headed, he didn't answer, just motioned for me to keep going. I asked, 'Where are you from?' He didn't answer. I realized at that point I was transporting a hostile person, a terrorist or a robber."
"I couldn't drive to the police station because it's inside the city, and I didn't want to go to a checkpoint because I knew that as soon as he saw soldiers, he'd blow up," Voltinsky said. He let the man out at the outskirts of the city and called the police. (Ha'aretz)

Family of Gaza Suicide Bomber "Very Happy" - Ali Waked
"The whole family was very happy when it heard that Muhammad is the hero who carried out the attack," said Naim Saqsaq, the brother of Muhammad Saqsaq, who carried out the suicide attack in Eilat. "We knew that he was waiting and praying for this moment. He always said, 'If only I could be a shahid (martyr), if only I could carry out an attack.' And here Allah gave him the privilege," said the brother. One of Muhammad's friends said he saw him for the last time on Thursday, and he looked different. "I am used to seeing him with a beard, but on this day he was cleanly shaven and had a short haircut." (Ynet News)