Arab rock throwers / archive
Arab rock throwers / archiveIsrael news photo: Flash 90

A military court in the Shomron (Samaria) convicted on Sunday two Palestinian Authority Arabs who threw rocks at an Israeli vehicle near Azzun last year, and caused an Israeli woman to suffer light to medium wounds.

The court convicted the two of the offense of throwing objects at a moving car.

One of the Arabs, aged about 21, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and the second one, aged 19, was sentenced to six years and seven months in prison. Both were also ordered to pay 6,000 shekels in compensation.

The IDF stressed that many rock and firebombing attacks have taken place in the Azzun area, noting that terrorists in the area have also prepared explosives and shot at Israeli vehicles and IDF forces. “We will continue to work on an ongoing and extensive basis to prevent such activities," the IDF said.

There have been dozens of cases of road attacks, also known as traffic terror or road terror, in recent months. These attacks are aimed at killing motorists; sometimes they actually succeed in their attempts.

Just last week, an Israeli motorist was wounded in a potentially lethal road terror attack while driving near a town north of Ramallah.

PA Arabs hurled rocks as they passed the vehicle with Israeli license plates, in a drive-by attack from the vehicle they were riding in. The attack occurred near the village of Itiba, northeast of Ramallah, capital of the Fatah-ruled section of the Palestinian Authority.

According to IDF sources, more than 2,000 similar attacks have been recorded since the start of this year.