Sgt. Steven Koenigsburg

Mar 3, 2002 - Sgt. Steven Koenigsburg, 19, of Hod Hasharon was killed and 4 soldiers injured when a Palestinian gunman opened fire near the Kissufim crossing in the Gaza Strip.

The attack occurred yesterday at 7:15 A.M., about a mile south of the Kissufim roadblock. Soldiers from a Givati infantry unit were attacked by a Palestinian gunman just as they were switching guard shifts, apparently relying on prior knowledge of IDF routines at the site. As the soldiers got out of the car the gunman hidden among the nearby shrubbery opened fire, killing Sgt. Steven Koenigsburg. Four other soldiers, who were in the vehicle, sustained injuries. The terrorist managed to escape, and left a bomb at the site. The bomb was later safely detonated by sappers.

Steven immigrated with his father to Israel from Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 1999. He lived in Hod Hasharon with his father and stepmother and stepsister. His mother and two siblings live in South Africa. Steven attended 11th and 12th grades in the local Mosenson High School, and enjoyed computer games.

A member of the Betar youth movement in South Africa, Steven was determined to enlist in an IDF combat unit. He was inducted into the Givati Brigade a year ago, and was scheduled to start an officers training course in another week. "Before we immigrated, we talked about it, and he said he wanted to go into the army when he came to Israel. He wanted to be a soldier, to fight for his country," his father said. Every time he returned home from the army, Steven would help his father with Hebrew.

Sgt. Steven Koenigsburg will be buried on Tuesday in the military cemetery in Hod Hasharon after his family arrives from South Africa. He leaves behind his father, his mother, two siblings, stepmother, and stepsister.