Search

Tel Aviv terror victims were childhood friends, one was recently engaged and planning wedding

Childhood friends killed together while waiting for fiancee, family and friends.

By David Hellerman, World Israel News

The two fatalities from Thursday’s terror attack in Tel Aviv were identified as childhood friends Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini.

They had arrived early at Ikla Bar on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff St. on Thursday night to celebrate Magimi’s engagement to Ayala Arad.

Both will be buried in Kfar Saba’s Pardes Haim Cemetery on Sunday.

“In this house, where we are now mourning, there was supposed to be a party this evening,” Lia Arad, Ayala’s mother, told Walla! News. “They met by chance in South America and almost a year later, made contact again and started dating.”

“We are all devastated. They had started making lists for the wedding and had set up times to see venues,” she said.

A Palestinian from Jenin, Ra’ad Fathi Hazem opened fire on patrons at the bar.

Twelve other people were injured in the attack, including one who is said to be fighting for his life. Five others have already been released from the hospital.

Magimi and Morad were rushed to the nearby Ichilov Hospital but doctors were unable to save them.

The terrorist was killed in a shootout on Friday morning in a Jaffa mosque following an intense manhunt.

Read  El Al to operate rescue flights from Amsterdam on Shabbat

The 27-year-old Magini worked as a software engineer for Wix and previously served as a crew chief in a submarine unit, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Morad, 28, was a mechanical engineer who had served in the IDF as an operations officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The two grew up in Kfar Saba and recently moved to Tel Aviv where they shared an apartment.

Kfar Saba “bows its head in great pain and shares in the heavy grief of the families of those killed in yesterday’s attack in Tel Aviv,” the municipality said in a statement. “The entire city of Kfar Saba embraces the families and sends support to the wounded.”

The statement added that the families have been offered social services.

President Isaac Herzog expressed his sorrow, saying, “Two young Israelis, two flowers, lost their lives in last night’s horrific attack in Tel Aviv. Their only sin was wanting to spend a normal night out.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud also released a statement saying, “The killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians only leads to a further deterioration of the situation, as we are all striving for stability, especially during the holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming Christian and Jewish holidays.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Hazem had accomplices and vowed they would be found and “pay a heavy price.”

Read  Jerusalem court orders Palestinian Authority to pay family of intifada victims $12.3 million

In the last 16 days, 13 people have been killed and 26 wounded in a wave of terror attacks in Beersheba, Hadera and B’nei Brak.

According to a Dutch study cited by the Jerusalem Post, “Ramadan brought with it a 200% increase in terrorist attacks in Israel between 2005 and 2016.”