The three Israelis murdered in the terror attack in Halamish on Friday night were named Saturday as Yosef Salomon, 70, and his children Chaya Salomon, 46, and Elad Salomon, 35.
Yosef’s wife Tovah Salomon, 68, who was seriously wounded in the attack, “was close to the front door, saw the attacker coming in and remembers the entire incident well—from the moment the attacker came in to the stabbing of the other family members,” said Dr. Ofer Merin, the head of trauma at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Dr. Merin said Tovah’s situation has improved. “She was stabbed several times in the back and was brought to us bleeding but stable. Shortly afterwards she underwent surgery,” he said.
Elad Salomon was living in the city of Elad in central Israel and working in computers. He is survived by a wife and five children.
“Elad was a happy man and a devoted father of five,” his friend Assaf said. “He took a break from to be with the twins who were born a year ago, while his wife went back to work.
He was friendly, a family man. Elad was salt of the Earth, with strong ties to the Land of Israel.
He was a moderate man who didn’t like talking politics.”
Haya Salomon was a second grade homeroom teacher at the girls’ school Noam HaMeiri in Lod.
The attack took place on Friday night at around 9:30pm, when ten members of the family sat down for Friday night dinner as well as to celebrate the Shalom Zachor of a new grandchild.
A preliminary investigation found that that the terrorist, 19-year-old Omar al-Abed from the nearby village of Kobar, surprised the family and managed to stab four of its members.
Elad Salomon’s wife managed to save herself and the five children who came to visit their grandparents by hiding them in a nearby room, after which she called the police and shouted there was a terrorist in the house who was stabbing those still in the living room.
Rescue teams were alerted and rushed to the scene.
The victims fought the terrorist and shouted for help. A neighbor who is also a paramedic serving in the IDF’s canine Special Forces unit Oketz heard their cries and quickly responded by shooting the terrorist through a window, thereby preventing more casualties among the family.
Another paramedic, who treated the victims of the attack, said the terrorist was lying next to his victims after being shot. He then tried to attack the paramedics, but was stopped by security forces who had also arrived at the scene.
The terrorist was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for treatment, and has since been released and taken into custody.
Levaya information:
The levayas for the victims of the Friday night terror attack; Yosef, Chaya and Elad Solomon HY”D, will take place on Sunday 29 Tammuz at 5:30PM in the Modi’in Cemetery.
The family will sit shiva in the son’s home HY”D at 22 Rashi Street in Elad.
Times for nichum aveilim are:
** 8:00AM to 1:00PM and 4:00PM to 10:00PM
** Please refrain from coming between 1:00PM to 4:00PM
