Grieving Community Mourns Tech Worker, Father of Six Killed in Terror Attack

Natanel Sharoni, a 40-year-old father of six and a high-tech worker, was laid to rest late Monday night in the Ali Zahav cemetery, hours after being killed in a shooting attack near the settlement of Neve Tzuf. The attack occurred as Sharoni and his 16-year-old son were preparing for Yom Kippur by immersing themselves in the Ein Ra'aya spring. A terrorist driving by opened fire on them, critically wounding Sharoni. He was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Sharoni, who worked as a systems information analyst for "Hachshara Insurance Company," is survived by his wife, Dr. Merav Sharoni, a lecturer at Ariel University, and their six children, aged 4 to 16. The community of Ali Zahav, where the family has deep roots, remembered him as a "man of kindness, humble, modest, and beloved," and a devoted husband and father.

The terrorist, identified as a 37-year-old Hamas operative from the Bir Zeit area, fled the scene on foot. After a manhunt lasting several hours, he was located wounded in a hospital in Ramallah. Duvdevan unit soldiers raided the hospital and apprehended him. Initial investigations suggest the attacker was familiar with the attack site, having scouted it the day before.