Two Brothers, Yeshiva Students, Killed in Terror Attack Near Havara in Shomron

Two Israeli brothers, Hy”d, were tragically shot and killed in a terror attack in the northern Shomron town of Havara on Sunday, the IDF and medics said.

Hillel Menachem and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv, both students in Hesder yeshivos, were riding in a car on the Route 60 highway when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire at their car before fleeing the scene, according to the IDF.

They were traveling to their respective yeshivos to study Torah, according to the Shomron Regional Council.

Footage from the attack in Havara showed the victims’ car riddled with bullets.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service initially said its medics were treating two men in their 20s who were critically hurt and taking them by helicopter to a hospital. However, they were later announced to have succumbed to their wounds.

The Yaniv brothers were residents of the nearby community of Har Bracha.

Igud Yeshivot Hesder said that Hillel Menachem, 21 years old, had just finished a tour of duty in the IDF sea unit, and had returned to full-time Torah study in the Hesder yeshiva in Kiryat Shemoneh. Yagel Yaakov, about to be 20 years old, was a talmid of the Hesder yeshiva in Givat Ulgah, and had helped establish a yeshiva in Tirat HaKarmel. He was set to begin serving in a combat unit in the IDF.

“The Igud Yeshivot Hesder mourns the brutal murder of the two holy brothers Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, Hy”d, students of the Hesder Yeshiva Kiryat Shmona and Givat Olga,” the Igud said in a statement. “We pray for the strength of the dear family, their friends in the yeshiva and the settlement, and Klal Yisrael.”

The victims’ parents, Rabbi Shalom and Esti Yaniv, are youth coordinators in Har Bracha, according to the Shomron Regional Council.

The IDF said it had launched a manhunt for the terrorists, closing off several roads in the area.

Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said that “The Israel Police is on maximum alert in order to be at a full operational alert level.”

Havara has long been a flashpoint in the Shomron as it is just about the only Palestinian town through which Israelis regularly travel in order to reach other communities in the northern Shomron.

There have been several shooting attacks against Israeli motorists on Route 60 in Havara.