3 soldiers wounded, 2 seriously, in West Bank attacks
Two reservists come under fire close to Reihan checkpoint; moments later, Palestinian rams car and stabs soldiers near Hebron
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in attacks carried out by Palestinians in the northern and southern West Bank on Wednesday afternoon, the military said.
In the first incident, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on troops in a vehicle while they were operating near the Reihan checkpoint in the northern West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said two reservists were seriously wounded in the attack.
The pair were airlifted to Rambam Hospital in Haifa for treatment.
The IDF launched a manhunt for the suspected assailant, and overnight, said he was detained in the nearby village of Barta’a by officers of the police’s elite Gideonim unit.
Shortly after the shooting, a Palestinian rammed his car into a military post at a junction near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The assailant got out of his car and stabbed one of the soldiers before being shot, the military said.
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An officer was moderately wounded. He was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
The assailant was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in critical condition, according to first responders.
Since late January, the IDF has been carrying out a major offensive in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, focusing mainly on the areas of Jenin and Tulkarem.
The offensive followed a spike in West Bank violence since October 7, 2023. Since the Hamas onslaught, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 950 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 51 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
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