Palestinian terrorists detonated a bomb near the Netzarim junction and opened fire with machine guns on a civilian vehicle. A second, larger bomb exploded under a Merkava tank coming to the rescue, killing 3 crew members. It was the first time Israel's premier armored vehicle was destroyed.

The soldiers killed were Staff Sergeant Moshe Peled, 20, from Rehovot, Sergeant Asher Zaguri, 21, from Shlomi. and St.-Sgt. Ron Levy, 20, of Katzrin.

It appeared that the attack was a well-planned two-stage ambush. The first, smaller bomb caused damage to a civilian bus but no injuries. Small arms fire drew in Israeli reinforcements. As is typical in such situations, armor was called in to block passage on adjacent roads. Enroute to this mission, the second bomb exploded, either under or immediately beside the Merkava 3 tank.

The tank was turned on its side and its turret blown off by the force of the blast. The only surviving member of the tank crew was evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheba with light injuries.

For several hours after the attack, crews worked to remove the bodies of the slain crew from the damaged shell of the tank. There were widespread searches for additional explosive devices, and searches for the perpetrators of the attack. Rumors that a soldier had been kidnapped proved unfounded.

According to Haaretz, the attack marked the first time a roadside bomb penetrated the armor of an IDF tank in the territories. The Merkava tank, widely considered the safest tank in the world, never before suffered such devastation, even in Lebanon.

The previously unknown Saladin Brigade, combining forces of the military wings of Hamas and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction claimed credit for the attack, calling it retaliation for Israel's killing of five Palestinian policemen opposing Israel's Wednesday raid to seek out Kassam rocket infrastructure in Gaza.

Separately, Hamas's military wing vowed to continue attacks against Israeli targets. "Our operations and missiles will continue to pour its fire on the heads of the Zionist enemy everywhere on the land of Palestine and no one will have a way to stop these missiles."

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