Terror Attack on Israel’s Day of Mourning; 3 Shot in Samaria; 2 in Critical Condition

Edited by: Fern Sidman

The national day of mourning in Israel to honor and commemorate the 45 people who died in the horrific stampede that occurred at the Lag B’Omer festivities on Mount Meron early Friday morning was marred by terror attacks perpetrated by Arabs.

Late on Sunday afternoon, a terrorist wounded three people in a drive-by shooting attack near the town of Kfar Tapuach in Samaria and two are in critical condition.

According to Hebrew language reports, the terrorists fired upon a group of people waiting at a bus stop, then drove away.

The IDF said in a statement that troops stationed nearby had “returned fire at the vehicle, which fled the scene.”

World Israel News reported that security and military officials are actively searching for the vehicle involved in the incident and are “setting up roadblocks in the area.”

“When I arrived, I saw three young people each with varying [levels of] injuries,” said United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Menachem Bakush. “One was in critical condition, one in serious condition and one in moderate condition. After receiving initial treatment at the scene, they were all transported to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah.”

The victims of the shooting attack as three men in their 20s.

WIN reported that Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan told reporters at the scene that “this is a serious incident.” Addressing the Palestinian terrorists, Dagan said, “You will never break us.”

Offering praise for those who carried out this attack was the terrorist organization Hamas. In a statement released to the media in the aftermath of the attack Hamas leadership called it a “natural response to the crimes of the Zionist occupation and an act of support for our people in the city of Jerusalem.”

Not to be outdone, the Palestinian Jihad terror group called the drive-by shooting a “courageous operation.”

This attack came hours after an attempted terror attack was thwarted on Sunday morning by IDF troops as they stood guard at an intersection between Hebron and Jerusalem.

A 60-year-old Palestinian woman who was identified as Fahima al-Hroub, approached IDF soldiers with a knife and ignored repeated verbal commands to drop the weapon, as was reported by World Israel News.

“A report was received of an attempted stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion junction … The female terrorist was neutralized at the location,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in a statement. She was shot and wounded by IDF troops.

WIN reported that the attack occurred at one of the three bus stops at the busy Gush Etzion junction on Highway 60 that runs south of Jerusalem towards Hebron.

The attack comes on the heels of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement blaming Israel for the postponement of Palestinian elections, as was reported by WIN.

The WIN reported indicated while Abbas blamed the cancellation on Israel refusing to allow voting in eastern Jerusalem, it’s widely believed that the longtime Palestinian leader wanted to scrap the elections because he likely would have been resoundingly defeated by Hamas in the polls. (Source: World Israel News)