Rachel Cohen and Aliza Reiss from the settlement of Kedumim were killed Monday in a shooting attack at al-Fundaq Junction, along with former resident Elad Winkelstein, local authorities confirmed.
The victims were shot by two terrorists from northern Samaria who fled the scene after the attack. The shooting occurred on a main road in the West Bank (Samaria).
Rachel Cohen, 73, was a retired educational counselor who is survived by her husband and five daughters. Her daughter Naomi described her as "a woman full of joy, kindness and positive energy" who was "always there for everyone."
In a tragic twist, Rachel Cohen had adopted the children of her close friend Rachel Gavish, who was murdered in a shooting attack in Elon Moreh 23 years ago.
Cohen, originally from Kiryat Motzkin, was a childhood friend of Rachel Kanner (later Gavish). Rachel Gavish, her husband David, their son Abraham, and her father Yitzhak Kanner were killed when a terrorist broke into their home in Elon Moreh during Passover 2002.
After that attack, Rachel Cohen and her husband Jacob, longtime residents of Elon Moreh, took in the Gavish children and moved with them to Kedumim.
