Son, grandchildren of MK hurt in West Bank rock-throwing attack
Father, 2 kids treated 1st by Palestinian Red Crescent after stones made him lose control of car near Huwara; Religious Zionism lawmaker Orit Strock: ‘Arabs tried to murder’ them
The son and two grandchildren of a right-wing lawmaker were wounded Tuesday night after rocks allegedly thrown by a Palestinian attacker hit their car on a highway in the northern West Bank.
The son of MK Orit Strock, of the far-right Religious Zionism party, lost control of his vehicle after it was struck by rocks near the town of Huwara, causing the car to crash.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service reached the scene first and treated the family.
Shortly after, Magen David Adom medics arrived and took the man and two children to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
The emergency service said the father, 24, suffered a head injury and was hospitalized in moderate condition. His 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were lightly hurt.
“Arabs tried to murder my son and small grandchildren in Huwara,” Strock, a member of the far-right Religious Zionism party, tweeted shortly after the accident.
Earlier in the evening, a 65-old man was lightly injured when rocks were thrown at his car while driving between the West Bank settlements of Ofra and Ma’ale Levona. Magen David Adom medics took him to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem for treatment.
“They were driving and it was very dark. Suddenly we heard a loud bang on the windshield. We didn’t see where it came from or who threw it,” a passenger in the vehicle told the Ynet news site.
The head of the Binyamin Regional Council in the West Bank, a member of the opposition Likud party, blamed the government for the attacks, accusing it of maintaining a weak security policy.
“The political echelon has decided to allow this to happen instead of cutting off this terror with an iron fist,” said Yisrael Gantz.
Also Wednesday night, a 16-year-old Palestinian died of wounds he suffered in clashes with Israeli troops near Joseph’s Tomb in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The Palestinian Authority health ministry said Ghaith Yamin was wounded by a gunshot to the head and died at a hospital.
Wafa, the official Palestinian Authority news agency, reported that the clashes erupted when Jewish worshipers, escorted by the military, arrived at Joseph’s Tomb on the outskirts of Nablus to pray.
According to the military, hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli forces, who fired at a suspect who hurling a Molotov cocktail.
At least 15 Palestinians were wounded by live fire, according to Wafa, during the clashes near Joseph’s Tomb, a frequent flashpoint site. Some Jews believe biblical Joseph is buried at the site, while Palestinians say it’s the tomb of a sheikh.
The area has also seen recent clashes between Palestinian gunmen and IDF soldiers, who have been entering and operating in the nearby Balata refugee camp amid counterterror operations in the wake of a number of deadly terror attacks.
Israeli security forces have stepped up their operations in the West Bank following a deadly wave of terror attacks inside Israel that have left 19 people dead since March 22. The raids have concentrated on the increasingly unstable Jenin area, from where several of the attackers hailed, and the military said Wednesday morning that six suspects were arrested overnight across the West Bank.
At least 30 Palestinians were killed over the same period, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. Some were shot by Israeli soldiers while committing terror attacks, while others were engaged in violent gunfights with soldiers, and still others — such as Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — were civilians. Abu Akleh was killed amid clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in Jenin. The Israel Defense Forces says it has not yet been able to determine who fired the fatal shot.
