Two Israelis wounded in car-ramming attack

Israeli police said an officer shot and wounded a Palestinian after he drove his car into security personnel at a junction near Nablus and then rushed at them with a knife on Wednesday morning. 

A police officer and a soldier, ages 23 and 20, were wounded along with the suspect in what the Israel Defense Forces deemed was a probable terror attack.

Security footage released to the media show a silver sedan cutting across a lane and striking the troops at a bus stop. The IDF said the suspect then jumped out of his vehicle and rushed at the troops with a knife. He was then shot by the injured police officer at the scene, the IDF said.

“He then stopped the car, got out of the vehicle and ran at them with a knife drawn,” police said.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz wished the injured soldier and police officer a speedy recovery.

“We will not allow terrorism to raise its head, and we will fight assailants and those who send them. The IDF and security forces will continue to be prepared on all fronts,” Gantz said in a statement.

Even though attacks have subsided somewhat in the past few years, this particular junction in northern Samaria has been a flashpoint for attacks against Israeli troops.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said today’s attack is a consequence of Israel’s wavering on annexation. 

“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,” he said. “Only a determined stand on our right to the land will bring calm and quiet.”

Today’s incident comes exactly a week after Rabbi Shai Ohayon was killed in another terror attack in Petah Tikva, allegedly stabbed by a Palestinian man in Israel with a legal work permit.

https://allisrael.com/israeli-killed-in-apparent-terror-attack-in-central-israel/

“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,” former defense minister Naftali Bennett said, attacking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not being tough enough on terror. “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.”