Terror victim survived by wife, 2 children
Eldad Abir shot at point blank range by Palestinian terrorists leaves behind wife, two children; wife hears about shooting while on bus to pick up daughter
Eldad Abir, married and father of two children, is the Israeli murdered in the shooting attack at Migdalim, in the West Bank.
His wife, Debby, heard about the attack while on a bus, on her way to pick up her infant daughter from the kindergarten in Ariel.
Eldad, 48, moved to Migdalim, a secular settlement, nine years ago. "He was a member of the committee and very involved in its management," Liora Yaguda, Migdalim spokeswoman, told Ynet.
Scene of attack at Migdalim (Photo: AP)
She added: "Debby was on the way to pick up her daughter from the kindergarten and heard on the radio about the attack on the gas station in the entrance to the community. She called us, we gave her some of the report, and afterwards we told her the worst."
Avir was manager of the gas station, where two terrorists shot him at point blank range. Avir was mortally wounded, and died later of his wounds.
Debby, Abir's second wife, attempted to bring a child into the world for a long time, before giving birth to Yahel, who is today three and a half. Debby registered Yahel at the Ariel kindergarten because she feared exposing her daughter to the main highway.
The couple decided to rent an apartment in Ariel in order to be close to their daughter's kindergarten, and since then have split their time between Ariel and Migdalim.
"Eldad was a sociable man, mischievous, a very good friend, someone who cared, someone who loved the place," said Yaguda.
"We are used to living in a hothouse. We hear about a shooting attack from far away but this time it his us," she added.
Eldad left behind his wife, and two children: A 17- year-old son from his first marriage, and a three and a half year-old daughter. His funeral details have yet to be decided.
Two casualties in two hours
Migdalim is a small, secular settlement, near the Tapuah junction. A Migdalim female resident told Ynet: “It is a small community of about 38 families and people know each other very well. The head of the community’s security told us of what happened and it is very sad. It is relatively calm here. On the Tapuah-Migdalim route there are occasional shooting attacks, but nothing happened lately. The petrol station is not guarded but the community is totally secured.”
“Everyone knew him; he was a great man,” she said of the victim
Two hours after Abir's murder, a second attack took place. An Israeli citizen was sot and seriously injured near the village of Nebi Elias, east of Qalqiliya. The Israeli, 47, was shot in the neck, and Magen David Adom paramedics treated him, taking him o the Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva. The man remained conscience.
An initial investigation found that the Israeli was injured by shots firing from a passing, white commercial vehicle, which apparently was seen near stores in Nebi Elias. The car used by terrorists was seen heading towards Qalqilya. The IDF began scanning the area after the terrorists. A few minuets later, an Israeli vehicle was hit with a bullet near Nebi Elias. The car's driver said that the terrorists who shot and injured the Israeli citizen fired at his direction too; there were no injuries in that attack.
