A soldier and police officer were lightly injured in a suspected ramming attack at the Tapuah junction east of Ariel in the West Bank on Wednesday.
According to Israel Police, the suspected terrorist arrived at the scene and rammed into the two security personnel at the junction, injuring them lightly. The suspect was shot by security forces after he exited the vehicle and ran toward police with a knife, and is in moderate condition.
The IDF and Israel Police both confirmed that they had received initial reports of a terrorist ramming attack at the junction on Wednesday and were investigating the incident. The IDF announced that a soldier was one the two people injured.
“When we arrived at the scene, two injured people, men about the ages of 20 and 23, were walking at the scene conscious and suffering from light wounds,” explained Aviel Mamlia, a senior MDA paramedic. “We provided them with initial medical care and transferred them in light condition to continued treatment at a hospital.”
“Residents of Samaria embrace and strengthen the IDF soldiers and the security forces together with the entire people of Israel,” said Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, in response to the incident.
“When the government withdraws from sovereignty and stutters about its grip on our country, it is no wonder that the terrorists of the Palestinian Authority gather courage and go out to harm soldiers and civilians. Only a determined stand on our right to the land will bring calm and quiet,” Dagan said.
The attack comes exactly a week after Rabbi Shai Ohayon was murdered in a stabbing attack in Petah Tikva.
“In the State of Israel in 2020, it pays to be a murderer. You make a fortune in salaries and they don’t demolish your house,” said former defense minister Naftali Bennett in response to the attack on Wednesday. “We’ve been satiated with words from prime ministers. It’s time for action. I call on the government to reactivate today the order to stop salaries to terrorists that I activated when I was defense minister.”
“I wish a full recovery to the IDF soldier and police officer who were injured this morning in the terror attack,” said Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “We will not allow terror to raise its head, and we will fight the perpetrators and those who send them.”
Yusef al-Hasayna, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s political bureau, responded to the terrorist attack, saying, “Once again, the brave West Bank youth prove that they are up to the challenge and the responsibility to perpetuate the resistance project and confront heights of the Zionist arrogance, despite all the frustrations and all the plots that plague the Palestinian cause, the last of which was the normalization plot committed by the UAE.”
The PIJ member called for terrorist attacks in the West Bank to become a daily occurrence.
A young man from the town of Beita, south of Nablus, was the terrorist who carried out the attack, according to Palestinian media. Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances were reportedly prevented from reaching the area.
“The continuation of the Palestinian resistance operations in the West Bank means a catastrophic failure of all occupation attempts to stop the youth revolution throughout the West Bank,” said Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem in response to the attack.