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YAVNE , Israel, June 10 (UPI) -- The Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians has been heavily criticized by the father of one of the victims of Wednesday's terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. As he buried his son, the father of Ido Ben Ari said Thursday that Israel was not doing enough to resolve the conflict, and he accused his country's government of provoking Palestinians with its hard-line approach.
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"The leaders we elect at democratic elections are supposed to find a strategic solution, which demands far-reaching vision, concessions, a creative solution, and not mantras and laundered words," the father, whose name was not published, said at the funeral in Yavne, which was attended by hundreds of people, including deputy minister Ayoub Kara.
"Last night, after the attack, the prime minister and two of his ministers arrived and yet another security cabinet issued decrees — not to return corpses, to put up barriers, to destroy houses, and to make lives harder. These solutions create suffering, hatred, despair and [lead] to more people joining the circle of terror," he said.
"What's needed is a solution rather than saying all the time that there's nobody to make peace with. We chose you to stop the cycle of blood, already 49 years you've been trying to solve things tactically and you haven't succeeded. The time has come for a strategic solution."
Ido Ben Ari was one of four people killed when two Palestinian terrorists opened fire at the Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old Coca-Cola executive and former IDF elite commando unit fighter was dining with his wife and two children at the Benedict Restaurant at the time of the attack. His wife was also injured.
"Ido served in [the elite commando unit] Sayeret Matkal. He went through [the] Lebanon [War] and all the horrors of the army, and yet it was over this nonsense that he was taken," his sister Reut Fishman told The Times of Israel.
Ben Ari carried an organ donor card and his family decided to donate his corneas so that "his beautiful eyes will live on in someone else."
Another victim, Mila Mishayev, 32, was reportedly set to be married in the near future and was waiting in the restaurant for her boyfriend when the attack took place. She was hit by bullets in her lower body and later died of her injuries. According to Israeli news agency Ynet, Mishayev managed to call her boyfriend immediately after the attack.
Also killed was academic Michael Feige, 58, who spent his career writing and lecturing about the effects of war and terrorism on the Israelis, reports Haaretz.
"He really was a researcher with a lot of influence. His presence and his contribution will stay with us here and for ever," said Dr. Paula Kabala, a close friend and colleague told Army Radio. Feige is survived by his wife Nurit and three daughters.
Mother of four Ilana Naveh was out celebrating her 40th birthday when she was also gunned down in the attacks.
The two gunmen, who had been posing as customers at the market's Max Brenner cafe, were caught shortly after they went on their deadly rampage. They are cousins who came from the Palestinian town of Yatta in the southern West Bank. At least one was reportedly injured in gunfire.
Within hours of the attack, Israel announced that it was suspending 83,000 Palestinian entry permits, which will prevent those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from visiting relatives in Israel, attending Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem and from traveling via Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport.
Palestinians with work authorizations will not be affected by the permit ban. All Palestinians are banned from entering and leaving Yatta with exceptions for humanitarian and medical purposes.
Hamas -- a militant Islamist group deemed a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the European Union and others -- praised what it called a "heroic attack" but did not claim responsibility -- adding that "Zionists" would have more "surprises" during the recently started Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Israeli security forces launched operations in Yatta following the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack a "savage crime of murder and terrorism." Additional security forces have been deployed, mostly around the city's bus and train stations to defend against follow-up attacks potentially inspired by the Tel Aviv shooting.
Since October, 33 Israelis and four others have been killed and hundreds more injured in the conflict. More than 200 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while carrying out attacks and the rest in clashes with troops, Israeli officials say.
Meanwhile, the scene of Wednesday's shootings returned to normal Thursday morning as shops, bars and restaurants at Sarona Market reopened.
The blood, broken glass and bullets had been cleared away, along with the belongings of the people who had died, reports The Times of Israel. And customers and workers returned to the various businesses, as if nothing had happened.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Construction Minister Yoav Galant, Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz and Labor MK Erel Margalit were among the politicians who paid their respects at the makeshift memorial of candles and flowers.
Charles Peguine, the owner of Le Palais des Thes, a tea shop in the market, said that it was the third terror attack in Tel Aviv that he and his family narrowly avoided since the start of the year.
"This is our life," says Peguine, who grew up in Belgium. "Unfortunately four people died; but there haven't been fewer customers today. We are used to this."
