IDF soldier seriously wounded in terror attack in South Hebron Hills

The Palestinian knife attacker was shot and injured by the IDF before being evacuated to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: NOVEMBER 26, 2015 05:43
Scene of stabbing attack in South Hebron Hills
A soldier was stabbed and seriously wounded at a checkpoint at the al-Fawwar junction in the South Hebron Hills region of the West Bank on Wednesday afternoon.
The 20-year-old soldier was checking cars, when a Palestinian terrorist launched himself from one of them and stabbed the soldier in the neck. A fellow soldier shot and wounded the attacker.
The soldier was rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he underwent surgery and is in serious but stable condition.
The terrorist was identified as Muhammad Ismail Shubaki, 19. He was also taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his wounds.
The attack took place at the same site where Avraham Asher Hasno, 54, was killed by a hit-and-run Palestinian truck when he got out of his car after coming under a barrage of rocks on October 20.
Earlier on Wednesday, a sniper shot at a parked car near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. No injuries were reported and the security forces were combing nearby neighborhoods for possible suspects.
Later in the day at the Knesset, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that the IDF plans to vastly improve the security fence at the Turkemiya checkpoint, that separates the southern city of Kiryat Gat from the West Bank.
“We are aware of the issue of the fence, and now with the budgetary approval for the massive fence we plan to build one similar to the border fence with Egypt - it will take some time but it will happen,” the defense minister vowed.
Ya’alon’s remarks came in response to a motion filed by Likud MK Miki Zohar in light of numerous Palestinian terrorist attacks in the region in recent months.
On Friday, a terrorist stabbed and wounded four Israelis — including a 13-year-old girl — in Kiryat Gat.
In addition to the girl, stabbing victims included two women aged 56 and 44 and a 51-year-old man.
All victims were moderately hurt with stab wounds in the upper body.
Security forces sealed off the town and carried out a massive manhunt until they found the assailant late Saturday night, nearly five hours after the attack, hiding in a storage unit of a private home not far from the scene of the attack.
The attacker was named by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) as Muhammad Tarda, an 18-year-old resident of Yatir in the West Bank. He had no history of security crimes, according to the security agency.
Arik Bender contributed to this report.