An Israeli police officer was lightly injured in a car-ramming near ad-Dhahiriya, southwest of Hebron in Judea, on Monday morning.
During an operation against “terrorist elements” in ad-Dhahiriya, the Israel Police’s Special Patrol Unit (“Yasam”) identified “a vehicle suspected of being stolen and signaled it to stop,” police stated.
“The vehicle did not comply, and during the escape, ran over a Yasam officer, lightly injuring him,” the statement added.
According to the Hatzalah Judea and Samaria rescue group, the wounded officer was treated by security forces before being evacuated to the nearby Otniel Junction, where they were met by paramedics.
Israeli security forces began a manhunt for the perpetrator, who fled the scene in his car after carrying out the ramming, setting up roadblocks and blocking vehicles from entering or leaving the ad-Dhahiriya area.
“A report of a car-ramming incident at the ad-Dhahiriya intersection in the Judea Brigade [area of deployment] was received. The details are under investigation,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted to X.
Eliram Azulai, head of the Mount Hebron Regional Council, in a statement sent his wishes for a full recovery to the victim.
“The terror in Hebron and ad-Dhahiriya is no different from the terrorism in Gaza, and I call on the minister of defense to fulfill our demand for a perimeter around the [Jewish] communities and the roads,” the local leader continued.
Azulai urged Defense Minister Israel Katz to immediately order the IDF to “evacuate the illegal construction adjacent to our communities,” adding, “The security of our residents comes above all.”
Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times in 2024, according to figures published by Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) on Feb. 17.
The figures, which were cross-checked against official data from Israel’s security services, included 19 instances of vehicular assaults. Twenty-seven Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and more than 300 others were wounded, the group said in its annual report.