Kissufim tank ambush
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On September 5, 2002, during the Second Intifada, an Israeli Merkava II tank was driving along a dirt road near the Kissufim crossing following figures identified as "suspicious" when it was blown up by a 100-kilogram bomb buried under the road.[1] One soldier was killed instantly, while three soldiers were wounded. It took five hours to extricate the surviving soldiers from the burning tank.[1][2]
The tank commander was blown out of the turret hatch but landed unharmed.[1][3][4][5] It was the third deadly Palestinian assault on an Israeli tank in 2002.[5]
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the incident began on the previous night, when anti-tank missiles were fired at an army post.[2][5] Soldiers and the tank were sent to search for the rocket launchers, and militants detonated the bomb under the tank.[2][5]
An Arab umbrella group dominated by Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization claimed responsibility, stating, "This operation came to prove that Palestinian fighters are capable of reaching everywhere.[2][5]
