Elazar junction
Elazar junctionGershon Ellinson

Nofar-Hodaya Shimon, the 17-year-old girl who was critically injured last week after being hit by a truck as she tried to cross over the road from a bus stop to the community of Elazar in Gush Etzion where she lived, passed away over the Sabbath at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.

The only way to reach the community from the bus stop on the side of the road going north on Route 60 is that crossing, a dangerous one lacking a traffic light that forces pedestrians to wait for a lull in highway traffic and try to run for it.

Nofar-Hodaya will be laid to rest on Sunday. Her funeral will leave at 1:00 p.m. from the synagogue in her hometown, the Gush Etzion community of Elazar  located opposite the city of Efrat.

She was hit by a PA-resident truck driver as she crossed the road, sustaining multiple injuries. There were unsubstantiated rumors that she was on the traffic island in the middle of the crossing and the truck aimed for her.

Following the accident, Israelis from Elazar and neighboring communities in Gush Etzion held a protest outside the Transportation Ministry in Jerusalem, demanding immediate action on the dangerous crossing.

Residents of Elazar said Nofar was careful, but fell victim to poor road conditions. “The junction is very dangerous, to pedestrians and to drivers, because vision is so limited,” one explained.

Similar concerns have been raised regarding safety at the entrance to the nearby community of Daniel. The Gush Etzion regional council and both towns have sought to install traffic lights at the entrance to Neve Daniel and Elazar in order to allow residents to cross the highway safely, but the Transportation Ministry has yet to transfer funding for the project.