ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer
1 min read
ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer
Over a thousand people attended the funeral of Danny Gonen on Sunday after the Israeli was shot at point blank range by a Palestinian near the West Bank settlement of Dolev.
Mr Gonen and his friend, Netanel Hadad, were intending to go for a swim in the Ein Bubin spring north of Jerusalem on Friday when they decided to turn back after seeing only Palestinians there.
Walking back, they were accosted by a Palestinian man who drew a hand-gun and shot and killed Mr Gonen , a 25-year-old resident of Lod, and lightly wounded his friend.
Israeli president Reuven Rivlin went to the Gonen family home in Lod on Monday to offer his condolences.
He embraced each of the mourners, including Mr Gonen's mother, Devora, and expressed his deep sorrow that such a tragedy had overtaken the family. Devora Gonen told Mr Rivlin how much Danny had loved the land, and how at every opportunity he loved to go hiking and to explore all the highways, byways and hidden trails.
Israeli defence chiefs are concerned that violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is about to surge with the onset of Ramadan, which began last week.
On Sunday, a police officer was critically wounded in a stabbing near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.
The officer had been standing guard when he was attacked by a Palestinian from the village of Sair near Hebron. The guard managed to shoot his attacker before collapsing. Both assailant and victim were hospitalised.
In response, Israel cancelled 500 exit permits for Palestinian West Bank residents looking to travel abroad.
