Woman traveling with family lightly hurt in Jordan Valley terror shooting
‘I thought that was it,’ says her husband, who along with their young children was unhurt; military launches search for suspects
A woman was lightly injured in a terror shooting on Wednesday while traveling with her family in the Jordan Valley, military and medical officials said.
Initial reports indicated that a gunman had opened fire at a passing car near the West Bank’s Hamra intersection, hitting it several times.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said a 31-year-old woman had light facial injuries caused by glass or shrapnel.
The woman’s husband and two children, aged six and nine, were in the car at the time of the attack. They were not injured.
The military said it was searching the area for suspects.
The woman’s husband said the assailants used their vehicle to block the family’s before the gunman got out and started shooting.
“We were returning from a vacation in the north, and suddenly I spotted a vehicle with a Palestinian license plate that was driving suspiciously,” Rafael Avnery told the Kan public broadcaster. “I stopped 20 meters before we got to them, then their vehicle started to move toward me. The vehicle then crossed over the line, blocking us, and the passenger got out and started shooting with an M-16.”
“My wife shouted ‘It’s an attack, reverse, go!’ and the terrorists’ vehicle drove away toward Nablus,” he said.
“I thought that was it,” he added.
The Hamas terror group said the attack was a “response to the crimes of the occupation against our people and the holy sites,” according to Channel 12 news.
The attack came a day after six Israelis were wounded in an attack in the West Bank settlement city of Ma’ale Adumim.
Five of them remained in the hospital as of Wednesday morning, including one in serious condition who underwent surgery during the night.
According to law enforcement officials, the Palestinian terrorist in the Ma’ale Adumim attack opened fire at a group of people, including diners at a burger restaurant, injuring six in a plaza outside a main shopping mall in the settlement. He was shot dead by an off-duty police officer while attempting to flee the scene.
The terrorist was identified by the Shin Bet security agency as 20-year-old Mohannad Muhammad Suleiman al-Mazra’a, from the nearby West Bank town of al-Azariya.
Tensions have remained high in the West Bank, with the military carrying out near-nightly raids amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have killed 25 people since the beginning of the year.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 162 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
