IDF officer injured in central Israel ramming attack on July 14 dies of wounds
Cpt. Ariel Topaz was among four troops hurt in terror attack outside military base
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
An Israeli military officer seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack outside a military base in central Israel earlier this month has succumbed to his wounds, the Israel Defense Forces said Thursday.
Cpt. Ariel Topaz, 24, from Pardes Hanna, was one of four off-duty soldiers wounded in the terror attack on July 14 at the Nir Tzvi junction.
Topaz served as an officer in the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Research Department.
According to police, the terrorist, identified as a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem, rammed his car into people waiting at a bus station at the Nir Tzvi junction.
The junction, outside the town of the same name, is adjacent to the IDF’s Tzrifin base.
The four victims were taken to the nearby Assaf Harofeh Hospital, which said at the time that it was treating a soldier and officer in serious condition, another soldier who was moderately hurt, and a cadet who was lightly hurt.
Police described the incident as a terror attack.
The suspected terrorist was shot dead at the scene by Border Police officers who were stationed in the area.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.
Since then, 23 Israelis, including security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
