Two IDF soldiers were killed and two other people were seriously wounded Thursday in a shooting attack north of Jerusalem. The attack was the second of three on Israeli troops within a 12-hour period, and the only one to cause fatalities.
The attack—a drive-by shooting on Route 60, a central artery that runs through the West Bank—occurred at around 11:15am, some 5km south of the West Bank settlement of Ofra, at a bus stop next to the Giv’at Asaf outpost. All four victims were in their 20s. One of the wounded was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the other to Hadassah Medical Center Ein Karem, both in Jerusalem.
One of the soldiers killed was later named as Staff Sgt. Yuval Mor Yosef, aged 20, from Ashkelon.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the gunman exited his vehicle and opened fire on soldiers and civilians standing at a bus stop at the Asaf Junction. The gunman then returned to his vehicle and fled the scene, sparking an IDF manhunt.
The army bolstered its troops and placed a closure on the area following the attack. The closure extends to and includes the city of Ramallah, which is the seat the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank. The IDF expressed concern that the shooting could lead to copycat attacks and said it was exploring the possibility of a link between the shooting and Sunday’s terror attack at the Ofra settlement.
“We are continuing our counter-terrorism activities, including securing the area and searching for the attackers from both incidents,” the army said.
Hours later, an IDF soldier was lightly wounded in a car-ramming attack in Al-Bireh, northeast of Ramallah. The driver was shot dead by forces on the scene.
The day of violence began when two Border Police officers were lightly hurt in a pre-dawn stabbing in the Old City of Jerusalem.
At around 5am, an attacker heading from the direction of the Damascus Gate drew a knife, jumped a Jewish man on Hagai Street, and tried to stab him. After he failed to do so, he ran towards two Border Police officers who were stationed nearby and tried to stab them as well.
One of them shot and killed the assailant, a 26-year-old resident of the West Bank.
Do what the Rebbe said to do about Eretz Yisroel
Do not give in to your enemies
Moshiach NOW
הי”ד
dispatched with expeditiously as they all should be! No mercy for the merciless!
No words. Tragic
Ad Mosai?! No more Korbonos!!
bd”e
When will it end???? Why are they in our territory to begin with???