Jerusalem attack: 16-year-old Canadian Israeli dies

JERUSALEM – A rabbi with a seminary in Jerusalem has identified a 16-year-old Canadian-Israeli student as the person who died in one of two explosions near a bus stop in the city.

Rabbi Refaen Rockmill said Aryeh Shechopek was a very special student and is remembered by his classmates.

“He always had a smile on his face. Everyone loved him. Loved him. And he loved everyone else,” Rockmill said Wednesday.

“He always tried his best to be the best he could be, to get on with his life, do the right thing, and do his best to be a good person.”

He said the people at Haley Yehuda Yeshiva School will miss Arie very much. The teenager began her second year of study there in his September.

Rockmill said the boy had been feeling unwell since the morning and was debating whether to attend class.

He died while waiting for the bus, the rabbi said.

“Even though he woke up feeling a little miserable, he decided he wanted to come, but he decided he wanted to come because he loved the place, the whole place… I We are family,” Rockmill said.

Another student who was waiting with Arie survived the attack, Rockmill said.

“We know that life has a purpose, we love each other, and we understand that God wants us to be dealt with,” Rockmill said.

“So we’re doing the best[we can]handle it and I hope we do it in the most correct way we can.”

The blast detonated during rush hour traffic, killing a teenager and injuring at least 18 others. Police believe the attack was carried out by Palestinians.

“It was a crazy explosion. There’s damage all over here,” said Yosef Haim Gabay, a medic who was on the scene when the first explosion occurred. “I saw people with wounds and bleeding here and there.”

The first explosion occurred near a normally crowded bus stop on the outskirts of the city. A second attack occurred about 30 minutes later in Lamot, a hamlet north of the city.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack on Twitter and paid tribute to Arie.

“I am incredibly saddened to learn of the loss of a young Canadian in the terrorist attack in Jerusalem. My heart goes out to his family and friends,” Trudeau said.

“My thoughts are also with those who were injured. Canada condemns this violence in the strongest terms possible.”

Lisa Stadelbauer, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, also condemned the attack in a tweet, confirming that the dead were Canadian citizens.

Tensions between Israel and Palestine have soared for months amid nighttime raids in the occupied West Bank sparked by a series of deadly attacks against Israel that killed 19 people in the spring. Palestinian attacks have increased in recent weeks.

“It is a heartbreaking day when Israel is once again rocked by a terrifying and deadly terrorist attack that killed a Canadian-Israeli boy. It is an act of violence and hate,” said Michael Levitt of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in a statement.

“Such despicable acts must be strongly condemned by all Canadians and people around the world.”

Police searching for the suspect said initial findings showed explosive devices containing shrapnel had been placed in two locations. They said additional police were deployed in the city after the explosion.

Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip and once carried out suicide bombings against Israelis, praised the perpetrators of the attack and called it a heroic operation, but fell short of claiming responsibility. .

Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Khanua said: “The occupation pays for its crimes and attacks on our people.

More than 130 Palestinians have died this year in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, making 2022 the worst year since 2006.

At least eight Israelis have been killed in the recent wave of Palestinian attacks.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published on November 23, 2022.

– By Mickey Djuric of Regina, using files from AP