Salah Shukri Abu Latyef

JNS.org – The recent uptick in Palestinian terrorism against Israel continued Tuesday, Dec. 24, when a Palestinian sniper fatally shot 22-year-old Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, a civilian employee of the Israeli Defense Ministry, while Latyef was making repairs to the Israel-Gaza border fence.

Latyef, a tractor driver, was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where he died of his wounds from the shooting. The Israel Air Force responded to the murder by striking two Hamas training camps, Reuters reported.

“This is a very severe incident and we will not let it go unanswered,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Our policy until now has been to act to thwart such incidents beforehand and to respond in force and this is how we will act regarding this incident as well.”

The murder of Latyef follows the bus bombing near Tel Aviv on Sunday, Dec. 22, which resulted in no civilian injuries after the bus was successfully evacuated, and the stabbing of an Israeli policeman on Monday, Dec. 23.

Sniper fire kills IDF soldier

Master Sgt. Shlomi Cohen

Israel Defense Forces Master Sgt. Shlomi Cohen, 31, was killed Sunday night, Dec. 15, by Lebanese sniper fire while he was on patrol near the Israel-Lebanon border. The Voice of Lebanon radio station reported that the shooter, a member of the Lebanese army identified as Hassan Ibrahim, fled his post after the incident but returned to his base Monday morning. It was unclear why the shooter, who apparently acted alone, had opened fire. “We will demand that the Lebanese army first of all provides an explanation of exactly what happened there, and whether this is really a rogue soldier, what they did with him, and what the Lebanese army plans to do to prevent incidents of this type,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said.

Cohen lived in Afula.  He leaves behind a wife and an 11-month-old daughter.