A Palestinian terrorist opened fire at an Israeli vehicle on Route 60 in Huwara, just outside Nablus (Shechem) in northern Samaria, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday night.
According to the Magen David Adom emergency medical service, the vehicle’s occupants—an Israeli man and his pregnant wife, both in their 20s, and their 18-month-old baby—emerged from the attack unscathed.
IDF troops found several bullet holes in the car, as well as a number of shell casings in the area. The back window of the car, which was reportedly en route to the Tapuach Junction, was shattered by gunshots.
Video footage from a nearby vehicle showed the terrorist shooting multiple times at the vehicle with a handgun before fleeing on foot.
Following a pursuit and fire exchange with the terrorist, IDF soldiers “neutralized” the gunman, the army announced.
Bypass road to be completed by year’s end
Four Israelis have been killed in Huwara in the past year—brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv in February; and father and son Shay Silas and Aviad Nir Nigrekar in August.
Dual Israeli-U.S. citizen David Stern, 41, narrowly survived a shooting on March 19 while driving through Huwara with his wife on their way to Jerusalem.
Two Israeli soldiers were also wounded in a drive-by shooting in the village on March 25. A few days later, dozens of Arabs stoned cars traveling through Huwara bearing Israeli license plates.
Route 60, the main north-south highway in Judea and Samaria, runs through the village. The main section of a road that bypasses the town is scheduled to open later this month.
Work on the road began approximately two years ago but was delayed. The construction received a boost in the form of an additional 50 million shekels ($13.2 million) following the murder of the Yaniv brothers and was initially planned to be completed by December.
Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev has lauded the project, saying that the bypass road “will save lives and give residents a sense of security.”
