Khalil Zeitounya

Oct 7, 2004 - Khalil Zeitounya, 10, of Jaffa was killed in the terror bombing at the Hilton Hotel in Taba - one of two tourist sites in Sinai hit the same night.

At around 22:00, a blast ripped through the Hilton Hotel in the resort town of Taba, near the border with Israel. The powerful blast was caused by car bomb which exploded at the entrance to the hotel, containing an estimated 250-300 kg of explosives, causing the collapse of part of the hotel. At about 23:30, two additional explosions occurred in the camping area of of Ras a-Satan, located about 45 kilometers south.

Khalil Zeitounya was vacationing at the Taba Hilton with his family. On Thursday evening they were sitting in the hotel lobby, when Khalil's father sent him to their room to fetch something, only 30 seconds before the car bomb exploded.

A block of cement fell on Khalil's head, killing him on the spot, in front of his mother. The mother was slightly wounded. Khalil's 3-year-old brother was unharmed.

Khalil's biological father was killed exactly 10 years ago in a car accident, on the same date that Khalil died. His mother, who already had an infant daughter and was pregnant at the time, gave birth to Khalil prematurely as a result of the stress. Khalil was named after his father, whom he never met. Later, the mother married her brother-in-law, Khalil's uncle, who raised him as a son.

The Arab Israeli Zeitounya family is well-to-do and resides in Jaffa. Family photographs show a smiling child. Salem Zeitounya, his uncle, said that Khalil was "a good student, a clever child who always liked to spend time with the adults." Khalil loved to ride his bike and hunt, "like his father," Salem said. "One of his uncles used to take him hunting for porcupine and wild boar." Khalil's father died on a hunting trip, when his jeep overturned.

Khalil Zeitounya was buried at the Tel Giborim Muslim cemetery alongside his father. He is survived by his parents, his sister Huda, 12, and a younger brother, 3.