Aftermath of shooting attack (archive)
Aftermath of shooting attack (archive)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Doctors at the receiving hospital have reported that one of the police officers who was seriously wounded in a terrorist ambush early on Monday morning has died of his wounds. Another of the police officers is seriously wounded and a third suffered light wounds.

The slain officer has been identified as Yehoshua "Shuki" Sofer of Be'er Sheva. Sofer, 39, had served in the Hevron region for 14 years. His funeral will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Be'er Sheva cemetery.

The victims were taken to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva and Hadassah Ein Karem in Jerusalem. The attack was directed against a police vehicle on Monday morning along Route 60, south of Hevron. 

Residents of the area noted that the IDF had removed a major checkpoint in the area just three weeks earlier. The checkpoint, the Dahariya crossing, was located roughly three kilometers from the site of attack.

Another Attack Near Removed Crossing

On Sunday night, a resident of the Samaria town of Alei Zahav was ambushed and brutally attacked by PA Arabs while driving near the town of Nachal Shilo.

The victim, who is physically handicapped, noticed a car with police lights signaling him to stop. When he pulled over, PA Arab men dragged him from his car, beat him, and stole his vehicle, leaving him at the side of the road. The victim was taken to a hospital in light condition.

Members of the Samaria Regional Council noted that in order to reach the site of the attack, the attackers had passed by what used to be an IDF checkpoint. The checkpoint was recently removed as a gesture to the PA.



On Friday, a Palestinian Authority terrorist rammed into two Border Police officers with his car in the Wadi Joz neighborhood of Jerusalem. Both officers suffered light wounds. The driver was shot and killed by other officers as he attempted to escape. Police spokesmen said officers had attempted to stop him by firing in the air, but began aiming directly at him when he ignored their warnings.

His family managed to steal his body from the hospital, and apparently planned to bury it near the Al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount.     

Also on Friday, a woman and her three children were ambushed by a rock-throwing mob in the same area; she slammed on the gas and escaped, after being hit in the head by one of the rocks. She received stitches in Hadassah Hospital.