Border Police officer critically wounded in suspected car ramming attack near Hebron

MDA treated Israeli in his twenties and evacuated him to hospital in Jerusalem.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: NOVEMBER 5, 2015 00:46
Scene of suspected car ramming attack on Route 60 near Hebron
Doctors were fighting on Wednesday night to save the life of a 20-year-old Border Police officer wounded in a suspected car-ramming attack in Judea.
The officer has very serious head injuries and injuries to his extremities, according to Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem.
The attack took place at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, on Route 60 near the Palestinian town of Halhoul, north of Hebron. In security camera footage, the vehicle can be seen approaching a curve in the road and then speeding up and swerving into a group of security personnel.
Border Police officers opened fire on the driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The wounded officer was hit with great force, police said, and was in critical condition while treated at the scene.
Magen David Adom paramedic Dvora Aviad said first responders found the wounded officer lying on the side of the road with serious and extensive internal injuries.
MDA paramedics, along with IDF medics, gave the officer first aid and evacuated him while he was unconscious and not breathing on his own, Aviad said.
Not far away, three Border Police officers were wounded in a suspected ramming attack, when a Palestinian driver struck them at the Beit Einun junction on Route 60, northeast of Hebron.
Route 60 in the West Bank has been the site of a series of ramming attacks and stabbings recently, in particular in the Hebron area and in Gush Etzion.
The security situation in Jerusalem has improved to the extent that police announced on Wednesday that they are making a series of security changes in the capital. These included the removal of some roadblocks set up in east Jerusalem in recent weeks and the relocation of others.
Late on Wednesday the Defense Ministry reopened the Gilboa Crossing north of Jenin, a day after it was shut following a series of Palestinian knife attacks.
In a joint decision by the Crossings Authority and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, authorities reopened the busy crossing after changing security arrangements in the area. The decision to reopen the crossing will be reevaluated on a daily basis, authorities said.