Israeli Weapons Instructor Seriously Wounded In West Bank Shooting Attack
On March 19, an Israeli man was seriously wounded after being shot by a Palestinian gunman while driving through the...
The post Israeli Weapons Instructor Seriously Wounded In West Bank Shooting Attack appeared first on South Front.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Defense Forces.
On March 19, an Israeli man was seriously wounded after being shot by a Palestinian gunman while driving through the northern West Bank town of Huwara.
An official photo from the scene of the attack on the Route 60 highway showed the windshield of the car riddled with bullets.
The wounded man was identified as David Stern from the settlement of Itamar, a former United States Marines soldier who works in Israel as a weapons instructor. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said that Stern was taken to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah, where he remains in a moderate-to-serious condition. Stern’s wife, who was with him at the time of the attack, was also taken to a hospital suffering from traumatic shock.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Palestinian gunman was shot by both Stern and soldiers immediately after the attack. Still, he was initially able to flee on foot. The wounded gunman was later located and detained.
While fleeing the gunman dropped a makeshift “Carlo” submachine gun he used in the attack. The gun was also seized by Israeli troops.
Click to see full-size image. Source: Twitter via The Times of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was praying for the “wounded hero” who succeeded in shooting the gunman, adding: “Whoever tries to harm Israeli citizens — will bear the responsibility.”
The attack came exactly three weeks after two Israelis were shot dead by a Palestinian gunman while driving through Huwara.
It also came just hours after a senior commander and engineer of the Islamic Palestinian Jihad (PIJ) was gunned down near the Syrian capital, Damascus. The group blamed the Israel for the assassination and vowed to respond.
The PIJ’s military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, welcomed the shooting attack in Huwara, without claiming responsibility. The attack was also hailed by Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the Gaza-based Hamas Movement. Qassem said that the attack was “a natural reaction to the occupation’s crimes against our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
Israel will likely respond to the attack with a new series of raids in the occupied West Bank. This will only generate more tensions.
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The post Israeli Weapons Instructor Seriously Wounded In West Bank Shooting Attack appeared first on South Front.