Three soldiers were lightly injured Monday night when a Palestinian Authority terrorist fired into their jeep as they patrolled the eastern side of Kiryat Arba, located 16 miles south of Jerusalem adjacent to the ancient Jewish city of Hevron. The attacker escaped despite an immediate IDF search of the area.
Close to midnight, a PA sniper fired through the windows of the IDF vehicle as it traveled near the Kiryat Arba community sports stadium. Three out of the four soldiers in the targeted jeep were wounded in the attack. Following first aid administered at the scene, the three injured men were transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for further treatment. Their injuries resulted primarily from the shattered glass of the vehicle.
According to Hevron sources, the shots came from a rooftop in the neighborhood of Jabel Jawar, under PA jurisdiction. Soldiers searched the neighborhood for the attacker, but were unsuccessful in apprehending him as of Tuesday morning. The Kiryat Arba emergency response team and IDF soldiers also immediately deployed in Kiryat Arba, in order to ascertain that no terrorists infiltrated the Jewish community. No other attacks or injuries were reported in the incident.
Israeli security forces throughout Judea and Samaria have been on high alert, as have all IDF units, since the start of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza more than two weeks ago. There has been growing justification for the assessment that Arabs in Judea, Samaria and elsewhere will carry out provocations and terrorist attacks in solidarity with the Hamas regime in Gaza. Thus far, Arabs throughout Israel have initiated pro-Hamas rallies, vandalism and protests of various kinds, along with attempted violent attacks by PA elements.