Palestinian Authority terrorists shot and wounded a Jewish motorist in an ambush in Samaria Tuesday evening shortly after Hamas attacked the Negev with another Kassam rocket. The Israeli kept on driving until he reached the entrance of the community of Kida, where he received first aid treatment before being evacuated by a Magen David Adom ambulance to a nearby hospital. The terrorists are still at large.
The attack occurred close to the community of Shvut Rachel, near Shilo, located north of Jerusalem.
In a separate attack south of Jerusalem, terrorists hurled two firebombs at an Israeli vehicle between Efrat and the tunnel on Highway 60, the only north-south artery directly connecting the capital with Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba-Hevron. No one was injured.
Further south, Hamas terrorists fired another Kassam rocket at the Negev Tuesday evening in its “quiet war” that Israeli media generally have ignored because there have been no injuries and only minimal damage. Tuesday’s rocket exploded in an open area in a farm community. Another rocket later struck south of Ashkelon and a mortar shell also was fired, both causing no damage or injuries.
“The terrorists are playing a two-sided game,” complained Eshkol Regional Council Chairman Chaim Yelin. “Various terrorists groups announce they want negotiations but send smaller groups to shoot at Gaza Belt communities. We do not want a return to the murderous attacks that preceded Operation Cast Lead, but the government cannot allow the attacks on its citizens to continue.”
Terrorists have attacked the Western Negev with more than 55 rockets and mortar shells in the past three months, and approximately 260 since the government ordered an end to the three-week Cast Lead campaign in Gaza in mid-January.
The Palestinian Authority launched the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, nine years ago this month, and several of its leaders have warned of an upcoming escalation in violence.