Shmuel Zargari

Aug 19, 2003 - Shmuel Zargari, 11 months, of Jerusalem was one of 23 persons murdered by a suicide bomber on a No. 2 Egged bus in the capital's Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood.

The attack took place at about 9 p.m. as the bus was making its way from the Western Wall to several religious neighborhoods. The Hamas suicide bomber, apparently disguised as a religious Jew, boarded the bus and detonated his bomb shortly afterwards. Seven of those killed were children and over 130 people were wounded.

Shmuel died in his mother's arms as the family was returning from an excursion to the Western Wall. Ya'acov and Nava Zargari had taken their children Michael, 13, Netanel, seven, Esther, six, Avigail, two, and Shmuel with them, leaving their eldest son, Moshe, 15, at home in the capital's Bukharan quarter.

On the bus home, the two girls sat together ahead of the boys, and the parents sat together with Shmuel. A moment before the blast, one of the girls gave up her seat to a pregnant woman, Lilach Kardi. When the terrorist struck, Kardi and Shmuel were killed, while the girls and their parents were wounded. The boys escaped harm.

"We believe that the Lord gave us his soul for a year," said a relative of Shmuel. "His status in Heaven will rank among the saints, because he was after all just a small and innocent soul."

Shmuel Zargari was buried at Jerusalem's Har Hamenuhot Cemetery by his eldest brother, Moshe, as his parents were still hospitalized. He is survived by his parents and five siblings.