St.-Sgt. Tomer Ron

Mar 10, 2003 - St.-Sgt. Tomer Ron, 20, of Moshav Moledet, was killed in an ambush by two terrorists, who shot at his Nahal patrol from the cover of an Arab apartment building in Hebron. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Soldiers exchanged fire with the terrorists throughout the night and at dawn an IDF bulldozer began tearing down the building. It was fired upon from inside the structure and soldiers returned fire. The body of one of the terrorists was later found in the wreckage.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, headed by Ahmed Jibril, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ron's friends at Moshav Moledet were devastated by the news of his death. "Whoever hasn't grown up on a moshav or kibbutz can never understand the kind of connection that's created among the kids in the same class," said Tamar Ziv, one of Ron's classmates. "Our biggest fear was always that something would happen to one of us."

Ron did not share this fear, they said. He began his military career in the elite pilot's course, where he stayed for nearly a year before being dropped. He was determined to serve in a combat unit and was sent to Nahal reconnaissance.

"Despite the fact that he was a relatively young soldier, and had completed his training only four months ago, he was one of the best," said reconnaissance commander Capt. Dan. "He contributed, initiated, was socially dominant, and other soldiers followed him. Despite his young age, he was greatly appreciated and we will miss him a lot."

"We are the generation of the Palmah [War of Independence]," said his grandfather, Moti Artzieli. "We've buried a lot of our comrades, but we never imagined that as a grandfather and grandmother we'd have to bury our grandson."

St.-Sgt. Tomer Ron will be buried in Moshav Moledet. He is survived by his parents, Dafna and Menahem, grandparents, and four younger siblings.