Elite unit soldier hit by marble slab during arrest still fighting for his life
Hospital says Duvdevan unit member remains in critical condition in intensive care, sedated and on a respirator
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Doctors were still fighting Friday morning for the life of a soldier from an elite IDF unit who was critically injured after a marble slab was dropped on his head during an operation to arrest suspected terrorists in the West Bank.
The heavy slab was thrown from a third-story rooftop at a group of troops conducting an arrest raid early Thursday morning in al-Am’ari refugee camp near Ramallah, the army said.
The soldier, from the Duvdevan unit, remained in critical condition in Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem’s intensive care unit. He was still sedated and on a respirator, the hospital said.
On Thursday, the IDF revealed that the soldiers had been on a mission to arrest members of a terror cell who had been carrying out shooting attacks. One member of the cell was nabbed during the raid and two more later on Thursday, the army said. The raid was based on intelligence information obtained in coordination with the Shin Bet security agency.
There was no indication that the Palestinian who threw the rock was one of the cell members.
The army is now tightening its search for the attacker who dropped the slab on the soldier, and says operations in the refugee camp may continue over the weekend.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman vowed to catch the attacker.
“We view the incident with great severity,” Liberman wrote on Twitter.
“The despicable terrorist who hurt [the soldier] won’t know any rest. It won’t be long before we lay our hands on him, dead or alive,” Liberman said.
He said that the whole of Israel was praying for the soldier’s recovery.
According to the army’s initial investigation, the soldier was wearing a helmet at the time of the attack.
The army said the soldiers were familiar with the risks of objects being thrown at them from previous operations in refugee camps. It said almost every time troops enter a camp in the West Bank objects are thrown at them by Palestinians, including washing machines, refrigerators and heavy furniture.
The military cleared the incident for publication several hours after it occurred, to give time to notify the soldier’s family first.
1,380 Palestinian suspects were arrested last year in missions of this kind, according to Hadashot television news.
The Times of Israel Community.