Sgt Steven Kenigsberg

Mar 3, 2002 - Sgt. Steven Kenigsberg, 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 Kenigsberg. 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 to Israel from Johannesburg, South Africa, with his father Kevin in June 1999. He lived in Hod Hasharon with his father, stepmother and two stepsisters. 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 Kenigsberg was buried in the military cemetery in Hod Hasharon. He leaves behind his father, stepmother and two stepsister, as well as his mother and two siblings.