Five West Bank terrorist attacks leave 7 Israelis wounded

Eisenkot: There is no clear solution to this problem.

By BEN HARTMAN, TOVAH LAZAROFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: OCTOBER 22, 2015 01:45
Scene of vehicular terror attack, West Bank, October 21, 2015 (photo credit: GUSH ETZION REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Scene of vehicular terror attack, West Bank, October 21, 2015
(photo credit: GUSH ETZION REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Six soldiers and a policeman were wounded in five West Bank terrorist attacks on Wednesday, as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai appealed to Palestinian leaders to calm the situation.
“It is not too late to stop the deterioration [of the security situation],” Mordechai said at press conference to the foreign media. Mordechai condemned the incitement that is fueling the spate of terrorist attacks, saying that the “word is more harmful than the sword.”
At night five soldiers in their 20s were wounded when they were run down by a terrorist after their vehicle was stoned on Route 60 near the Palestinian village of Beit Umar, just outside the Etzion Bloc.
The soldiers got out in an attempt to halt the stone throwing and were run down by the Palestinian driver. A fifth soldier shot and wounded the driver, who was then taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
One of the four soldiers was seriously wounded and the other three were lightly wounded and one is in moderate condition. The four were admitted to Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem.
Later in the day, near the settlement of Ofra, a Palestinian driver ran a checkpoint on Route 60, hitting and lightly wounding a police officer who tried to stop him.
Earlier, near the entrance to Ma’aleh Adumim outside of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria police said that officers pulled over a car whose Palestinian occupants aroused suspicion.
A search of the vehicle revealed two improvised explosive devices, but police gave no indication of their size or sophistication.
Police later said that an initial investigation showed that the two men had planned to use the explosive devices against security forces.
“The attack was foiled,” said Judea and Samaria District chief Cmdr. Shlomi Michael.
In the afternoon a Palestinian terrorist stabbed and seriously wounded a 19-year-old female IDF soldier just outside of Jerusalem at Kikar Adam in the West Bank.
MDA paramedic Assaf Ben Artzi, the first on the scene, described finding the woman lying on a dirt path near a road, with civilians attempting to help her. He gave her life-saving initial treatment and she was rushed to Hadassah- University Medical Center in Jerusalem. She remained conscious the whole time, he said.
A second female soldier from the same battalion shot and killed the terrorist.
The IDF arrested another suspect at the scene on suspicion of being linked to the stabbing.
In the morning, a Palestinian teenage girl, 15, armed with a knife walked toward the settlement of Yitzhar, prompting the IDF to send a patrol to the area.
Soldiers called on her to stop, and fired a warning shot in the air, but she ignored them. A soldier then shot and wounded the woman.
IDF soldiers provided the suspect with medical treatment at the scene before she was evacuated.
Yitzhar residents were asked to stay inside their homes during the incident.
At the press conference, Mordechai referred to the Palestinian teenager at Yitzhar and said, “When she was asked who sent her, she replied: ‘No one.’ Palestinian youths are being fed incitement and are subject to deceitful brainwashing regarding events on the Temple Mount.”
He also accused Hamas of exploiting the violence to undermine the stability of the Palestinian Authority. “There has been no change in the status quo on the Temple Mount, and there will be no change,” he said.
“The IDF is safeguarding daily life in the West Bank” and is “distinguishing between the [Palestinian] people and terrorism.”
In an interview with Channel 2 Wednesday night, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said: “There is no focused, clear solution to this kind of challenge.
There is an integrated, multi-dimensional response. I believe that a solution to this problem will be found, even if it takes time.”


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