One killed, three wounded in combined ramming & stabbing attack in Hebron area

An Israeli man was killed and three others were wounded in a combined car ramming and stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion junction near Hebron on Tuesday (today).

Israeli media outlets cited security sources who said that unexploded pipe bombs were found in the car the terrorists used to drive to the junction.

“The attack in question was a ramming and stabbing attack. IDF soldiers eliminated two terrorists at the scene,” the military stated.

“Several explosive materials were found in the vehicle used by the terrorists and are currently being neutralized by Israel Border Police bomb disposal specialists.”

The IDF added that troops “are conducting searches and roadblocks, and encircling the area” near Hebron where the terrorists are suspected to have come from.

According to eyewitness testimonies, the attack began when the terrorists rammed their cars into several people. The terrorists then exited the vehicle and began stabbing people until soldiers shot and neutralized them.

A man aged about thirty years old was stabbed and pronounced dead after the attack. Three others were treated at the scene before being rushed to hospitals in Jerusalem.

A 55-year-old woman in serious condition was evacuated to the trauma unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem, while the Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center said received two moderately injured people after the attack.

The hospital later said that the two were out of mortal danger and will continue to be treated there.

The Yesha Council, the umbrella group of Jewish municipalities in Judea and Samaria, stated in response to the attack, “When the State of Israel silently allows ‘a path to a Palestinian state’, terrorism raises its head again.”

This is a reference to Israel’s approval of a UN resolution adopted the evening before, which includes a reference to a “path toward statehood” under certain conditions.

“We have always said that it is either sovereignty or a Palestinian state, the Israeli government has avoided sovereignty and we are receiving a tailwind in the sails of a terrorist state in the heart of the country,” the council stated.

Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Liberman echoed this criticism, ascribing it to the government’s “feebleness and submissiveness.”

“When terrorism smells weakness it raises its head and goes out to kill. Terror attacks are not a decree of fate, but a struggle that requires determination, strength and independence – everything that this government of negligence does not have,” he stated.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid sent condolences to the victims and affirmed his support for “IDF and the security forces in their efforts to restore security and eradicate terrorism.”