Victims of Tel Aviv attack laid to rest
Funerals took place in Carmiel, Ofakim and Lod on Sunday, laying to rest Alon Bakal, Shimon Ruimi and Amin Shaban who were all murdered in Tel Aviv last Friday.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Carmiel, Ofakim and Lod on Sunday afternoon to lay to rest Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, who were murdered in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv last Friday, and Amin Shaban, who was murdered in his taxi about an hour after the shooting.
Around 2,000 people showed up to the cemetery in Carmiel, where Alon Bakal's funeral took place.
"We are left here in pieces and you are up there with your great spirit. We love you forever," Bakal's mother said. "I will never be able to bear this pain."
"Alon, dear and beloved son. How can you write a goodbye letter to your son who hasn't even turned 27?" Bakal's father added. "Everyone knew you would go far. After your first class in college the lecturer said that you would be a success. You loved people and your country."
Bakal's girlfriend, Lior, said: "My Alon, my love. How can I write to my best friend, who knew how I felt? So I'm not parting from you. You are with me all the way.
"I feared for you during Operation Protective Edge. I didn't want you to go to the reserves and I worried. Who could have believed that I would lose you months afterwards in a pub in the middle of Tel Aviv?" Lior continued.
'Shimon, you got through a war and succumbed to a bullet'
In Ofakim, 2,000 people attended the funeral of Shimon Ruimi, also killed in the terror attack on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.
Ruimi's aunt, Mor Peretz, said: "We are standing here today and instead of celebrating your birthday, we are burying you. This is not how life should go, with parents burying their son.
"You have become everyone's child," Peretz continued. "The rain that has fallen over the last few days shows how much heaven is weeping over you.
"You got through Gaza, got through a war, but you couldn't survive a bullet of hate. The same bullet that pierced your heart pierced everyone else's heart too," Peretz said.
Ofakim Mayor Itzik Danino said: "Our beloved Ruimi family, the hearts of Ofakim and of the people of Israel are weeping with you at this time, over the murder of your dear son Shimon."
Funeral in Lod: 'There are a lot of rumors'
Hundreds of family members and friends of Amin Shaban, the taxi driver murdered in north Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon, gathered in Lod on Sunday afternoon to lay him to rest. Shaban was killed shortly after the shooting attack on Dizengoff Street, and his body was found close to the Mandarin Hotel.
"He was murdered in cold blood. If he had known there was a terrorist in the taxi he would have fought him," said one of Shaban's friends. Shaban leaves behind 11 children and three wives.
Uncertainty remains around the reasons for Shaban's murder. "We still don't know whether Amin's murder is connected to the attack," said Ibrahim, one of Shaban's family members. "There are a lot of rumors and the family is not being updated. There is still an attempt to see if the background is criminal, and that's bizarre because there's no chance.
"Amin didn't have any enemies. Everyone liked him, he got on with everyone, and he only wanted to support his family," Ibrahim continued.
The manhunt for Nashat Melhem, the suspect in the shooting attack, continued on Sunday, two days after the deadly incident. Security forces were patrolling the city in large numbers, focusing search efforts on north Tel Aviv, where Melhem was last seen and where he is believed to still be hiding since the attack on Friday. They are still waiting for the terrorist to make a mistake, or for a "golden tip" that would lead them to him.
Ahiya Raved, Amir Alon and Itay Blumenthal contributed to this report.
