An incident that took place on Thursday evening that was reported as a car accident was actually an attack, members of the Epstein family said Thursday night. Ilan Epstein, his wife Tamar, and their two young children were driving near the town of Eli in Samaria when a car driven by a local Arab swerved into their lane. Tamar managed to avoid a collision by veering to the right, hitting the guardrail.

"It wasn't a normal accident, it was intentional,” Tamar said. “They intended to hurt us.” The other car drove away after the Epsteins crashed, leaving them at the side of the road. Israelis traveling behind the Epsteins witnessed the incident and agreed that the other car had apparently veered into their lane on purpose, Tamar said.

The four members of the family were lightly hurt in the incident. They received medical treatment at a nearby hospital and were released on Thursday night.

Police said they were unaware of the incident because no complaint had been filed. “As soon as someone comes to the police station and tells us there was an accident and files a complaint, we can begin investigating the circumstances of the accident,” said Judea and Samaria police spokesman Danny Poleg.

Residents of Judea and Samaria have reported several incidents over the past few years in which local Arabs attempted to run down Jews in “traffic accidents” that were actually attacks. The attack technique gained notoriety in recent months following three such attacks in Jerusalem, the most recent several days ago. The Jerusalem attacks killed three Jews and wounded dozens more, some seriously.