Two Israelis were critically injured in a terrorist car-ramming attack near the city of Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria on Wednesday night, according to Hebrew media reports.
Paramedics reportedly treated both victims on the scene before evacuating them to the Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah by military ambulance.
The terrorist managed to escape and flee towards Nablus, according to Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it received reports of “a run-over attack near Nablus in the Samaria Division.” A large IDF force launched a manhunt for the suspect, the military said.
The terrorist reportedly turned himself in to Palestinian Authority police, per Kan, adding that he had yet to be transferred to IDF custody.
According to the Hatzalah Judea and Samaria (Rescuers Without Borders) emergency response group, the attack took place between the Hatmar Shomron Junction and the Israeli community of Itamar.
Following the attack, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan demanded that the IDF restore security checkpoints and roadblocks near Palestinian terrorist hotspots like Nablus.
‘Terrorism must be eradicated everywhere’
“It can’t be that an attacker is able to appear from and then return to the ‘Palestinian Authority’ without hindrance,” Dagan said in a statement cited by Israel’s Channel 12 News.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged immediate government action after Palestinian terrorists fired on central Israel from northern Samaria for the second time this week.
“Terrorism must be eradicated everywhere, even if it means Tulkarem [in Samaria] will look like Gaza looks today,” tweeted Smotrich, who oversees civilian issues in Judea and Samaria in the Defense Ministry.
Judea and Samaria 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, per IDF data.
Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 15, Rescuers Without Borders first responders recorded more than 2,600 Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis in Judea and Samaria, including 760 cases of rock-throwing, 551 fire bombings, 12 attempted or successful stabbings and nine vehicular assaults.
