Female soldier severely wounded in West Bank shooting, IDF in pursuit of terrorist

A Palestinian man shot at passing vehicles near Nabi Ilyas in the northern West Bank on Sunday, seriously wounding a female soldier, around 20 years old, and lightly wounding a civilian in his late 40s.

The military said he exited his car and opened fire on vehicles nearby, hitting the soldier on a bus.

The IDF said it was in pursuit of the terrorist, whose identity had already been corroborated with authorities. By press time, he had not been apprehended. Troops had also blocked the nearby Palestinian village of Nabi Ilyas.

At 10:05 a.m., Magen David Adom said it received reports that two people had been wounded from gunshots fired at a bus and a private vehicle on Road 55 near the village of Azzun in the West Bank. The bus continued driving to the nearby entrance of Karnei Shomron, and the private vehicle stopped at the barricade between Alfei Menashe and Kalkilya.

MDA reported a 19-year-old woman was in serious condition, and a 50-year-old man had been moderately wounded in the attack.

MDA paramedics and IDF medical troops arrived at both localities and rushed one of the wounded to the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and the other to Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva.

Earlier on Sunday, the military said it had received reports of the shooting, and forces had been dispatched to the scene.

Shmulik, a resident of Karnei Shomron, told Israeli media that he was on his way home when a car suddenly stopped in the opposite lane and he felt that something was off.

“The terrorist suddenly pulled out an M-16 and shot 13 or 14 bullets at me. I bent down low while driving, and saw him pull out a magazine; I got out of my car and ran in his direction. He saw that I was running, and left his car engine operating, got out of his car and began running towards Kalkilya.”

The attack comes at a tense time in general, due both to the war and the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a time that has seen several terrorist attacks.

On Tuesday night, four policemen were moderately and lightly injured in a ramming attack. Police said that the attacker, a 26-year-old man from Tira, arrived at the checkpoint near Kochav Yair, rammed his car into the officers, and then got out of it to stab them. He was shot dead at the scene.

A few days earlier, a man from Rahat stabbed an IDF officer at the central bus station in Beersheba, while two weeks ago, a terrorist opened fire on Israeli cars driving in the Jordan Valley, injuring three people.

Regional Council Heads respond to the attack

Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said that an attack like this, “on a main road in a central location in Israel, is not something that should happen. We have been warning and shouting for some time – to close the security checkpoints.

“We expect the government, the prime minister, the defense minister, the cabinet, and the military to direct the immediate closure of all security checkpoints, increase offensive activity against the Palestinian Authority, whether Hamas or Fatah are the ones behind this,” Dagan said.

Karnei Shomron Council head Yonatan Kuznitz added that “the writing was on the wall. Two weeks ago, we cried out over the opening of the checkpoints, and just last week we talked about this exact spot, a critical point where an attack happened. We demand to close Palestinian traffic, make it more difficult for them to move here, and return security to the region.”