An Israeli was lightly wounded when a terrorist opened fire at civilians near Adei Ad in the Binyamin region of Samaria, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.
The wounded man was evacuated to the hospital as security forces encircled Al-Mughayyir and other villages hunting for the shooter, the military said.
The Rescuers Without Borders emergency service said the man had been injured while struggling with the shooter. Israel National News reported that the terrorist fired one shot before his weapon jammed.
Earlier, the IDF said that it was investigating a “security incident” near Malachei Hashalom in the Binyamin region.
Magen David Adom reported that paramedics treated a 20-year-old man for a minor head injury after receiving a call at 8:17 a.m. about an incident on Route 458 near the Gideon Junction. He was subsequently evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.
The details of the incident were unclear, with some Hebrew media outlets reporting that the incident involved a masked gunman who opened fire on two Israeli shepherds grazing cattle, while others suggested the victim may have been struck by stones.
Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz called it a “miracle” that the attack at Malachei Hashalom Farm did not end in additional bloodshed.
“This was a planned ambush that ended with a miracle. We support the security forces and the courageous farmers in Binyamin. The ATV the farmer was driving was given to him just a few weeks ago by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization and has already saved lives,” Ganz said in a statement.
“The farmers have proved again how important their presence is in the open areas between the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem and that they are protecting our country’s lands,” he continued. “This is further proof that we must complete the process now for applying Israeli sovereignty to all of Judea and Samaria.”
In a separate incident later Thursday, the IDF said that Paratrooper Brigade soldiers shot and seriously wounded a terrorist who drew a gun on them at a military post at the Tamar checkpoint in Hebron. While the troops initially thought it was a real gun, later examination of the scene revealed that it was an air gun. No IDF injuries were reported and the terrorist was taken to a hospital for treatment.
