Capt. Yael Kfir

Sept 9, 2003 - Capt. Yael Kfir, 21, of Ashkelon was one of eight IDF soldiers killed in a suicide bombing at a hitchhiking post for soldiers outside a main entrance to the Tzrifin army base and Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomber wore civilian clothes and carried a leather bag containing a 3-4 kilogram bomb. He got out of a car at the hitchhiking post, and almost immediately blew himself up, killing eight and wounding 30.

Yael Kfir graduated from the High School for the Arts in Ashkelon, majoring in theater. Alongside this, her father said, she had a scientific mind, completing her math matriculation exam for the maximum 5 points with a grade of 100. She had been offered scholarships at several universities, but hadn't made up her mind what to study. In the meantime, alongside her IDF service as an instructor in the Signal Corps at the Tzrifin army base, she was studying math and history at the Open University. Yael was killed on her way home.

Yael dreamt of becoming an astronaut and wanted to be on the first manned mission to Mars. Two weeks ago had sent an e-mail to NASA, asking them to advise her if she should study astronomy or astrophysics. "She had enough dreams for dozens of people, said her father."

Capt. Yael Kfir was buried in the Ashkelon military cemetery. She is survived by her parents, Ben and Yaffa, and an older sister Tal.