Security forces are investigating a reported attack in which a man was critically wounded near the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the Shomron, the Israel Police said on Thursday afternoon.
According to the police, first responders “received a report of a man in his 70s who arrived at the Eliyahu Crossing in Samaria unconscious and is being treated by Magen David Adom personnel.”
According to an initial probe, the victim was robbed of his car in the area of Qalqilya, the statement said, adding that police and Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrived on the scene and were investigating.
Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster cited medical authorities as saying that a passerby found the injured man lying by the side of the road and took him to an IDF checkpoint. On their way to the crossing, the victim collapsed and lost consciousness.
“After resuscitation efforts, the pulse of the injured man—a 70-year-old resident of Kiryat Ono—returned,” Magen David Adom said. “In the coming minutes, he will be evacuated to the hospital.”
The Hatzalah Yehuda and Shomron rescue group reported that the Arab suspects fled towards Qalqilya, a Palestinian city with more than 50,000 residents across the Shomron security barrier from Kfar Saba.
IDF troops entered Qalqilya in search of the suspects, sparking riots, Kan News reported later on Thursday afternoon. The soldiers were said to have returned fire at Palestinians who threw rocks at them.
In April, two Israeli civilians were wounded in a shooting attack east of Qalqilya on Route 55, between the Arab towns of Azzun and Nabi Ilyas. Security forces apprehended the suspect after he fled towards Qalqilya, where they found a large explosive device in the terrorist’s car.
Yehuda and Shomron saw a dramatic rise in Palestinian terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05, IDF data shows.
Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 15, Rescuers Without Borders first responders recorded more than 2,600 Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis in Yehuda and Shomron, including 760 cases of rock-throwing, 551 fire bombings, 12 attempted or successful stabbings and nine vehicular assaults.
{Matzav.com}
