Yaakov (Kobi) Zagha

April 3, 2004 - Yaakov (Kobi) Zagha, 40, of Avnei Hefetz in northern Samaria was shot dead by a terrorist outside his home at about 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the Friday evening Shabbat meal, Kobi Zagha sat with his family, singing and enjoying themselves. Later he and his wife Esther put their youngest two children to bed and went to sleep. Hani, 14, the eldest of six children, remained awake playing with the others. At around 1:00 a.m. she heard gunfire and knocking on the window, as the terrorist tried to enter the house. Chani wakened her parents, grabbed her youngest sister Tehiya, 3, and ran for safety in the secure room. She told her other siblings to hide under the beds. Although shot by the terrorist, Chani crawled to safety with Tehiya. Kobi, armed with a pistol, went outside to try to intercept the terrorist, but was shot dead. The terrorist, from Tulkarem, ran down the street shooting at houses, until he was killed by IDF forces.

Kobi studied at the Nir Hesder Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba 20 years ago and served in the army in the Givati Infantry Brigade. He worked for Bank Mizrahi as an internal inspector. He and his wife Esther, who immigrated to Israel from Argentina, were among the founders of Avnei Hefetz, where they raised their six children. In his spare time, Kobi enjoyed cooking, and had prepared the last Shabbat meal.

His daughter Chani related: "We understood immediately that it was a terrorist and I screamed to my father. I tried to continue running for the shelter room, but I couldn’t walk anymore because I was injured, so I fell down and crawled to the shelter, with my little sister Tehiya in my arms. If my father hadn’t gone outside, maybe none of us would be alive. People tell me that I saved my little sister, but my father was a hero and saved the whole family." Esther, a psychologist, told the children that their father was dead, and suggested that they say goodbye to him. They stood side by side outside the house, near his covered body, and took leave of him in tears.

Yaakov Zagha was buried in the Segula Cemetery in Petah Tikva. He is survived by his wife Esther and their six children - Chani, Sari, Rahel, Ruti, Nissim and Tehiya - as well as his parents, three brothers and two sisters.