Terror ramming in central Israel wounds 8 IDF soldiers, large manhunt for terrorist is underway

Eight IDF soldiers were wounded in a suspected terror ramming attack in central Israel on Thursday morning, the military cleared for publication several hours after the incident.

Two soldiers, a man and a woman aged 20 and 18, were in moderate condition, while the others sustained light injuries in the attack.

A large force of police, border police, IDF and the prison service started a manhunt for the attacker, who managed to flee the scene and ditched his car at the nearby Beit Lid junction.

The perpetrator, who is suspected to an Arab-Israeli from the Galilee, rammed his car into the group of soldiers waiting at a bus stop at the entrance to Kfar Yona, east of Netanya.

The owner of the car used in the attack is an Israeli citizen, and police and the Shin Bet are now trying to determine if the car was stolen by the suspect.

Following the attack, all the surrounding communities raised their level of security and stationed their armed emergency response units at the entrances, fearing that the fleeing suspect could infiltrate and carry out another attack.

A police source said, “There’s concern that the terrorist might carry out another attack, as he has nothing to lose. As long as he’s not caught, this concern intensifies. We’re doing everything to locate and arrest him. We’re not ruling out the possibility that he himself may have been injured during the attack and is lying helpless in some thicket."

Police set up new checkpoints and road closures to prevent the suspect from fleeing east into Judea and Samaria, while security forces searched roads and open areas, assisted by police helicopters, motorcycle units and canine units, the police said.

“It’s scary to hear that he still hasn’t been caught,” a local resident said. “I’m at work, and the kids are home alone. I told them to lock the doors and windows and not to open the door for anyone. They’re frightened. I left work and am rushing home. We’ve had enough of this situation, where our security is a mess. That’s it – we want to live in peace.”

According to Ynet News, one of the wounded soldiers told his family from the hospital, “I was on my way home up north, it was my weekend leave. I was just showing my friend a video on my phone when someone shouted, ‘It’s a Toyota, it’s a terrorist, he fled!’ I have a head injury and also injuries to my legs – we were saved by a miracle. We quickly understood this was a terror attack, a great miracle happened to us.”

Alex, father to another wounded soldier, said his son was struck by the vehicle and “thrown seven meters into the air.”

Kinneret Chanuka, an eyewitness, said the terrorist drove “an old, disgusting, smelly Toyota, full of dust... The wounded were screaming and crying – it was hard to hear and see. Ambulances arrived very quickly. The Creator protected them, and thank God they weren’t killed.”

Paramedic Idan Shina added, “Some of the victims were walking at the scene, others were lying in the dirt nearby. They told us a car had hit them and fled. Civilians on-site helped us with first aid for the injured.”

The mayor of Kfar Yona, Albert Taieb, said his municipality had long asked the National Roads Agency to protect the bus stops against ramming attacks.

“We’ve long asked Netivei Israel to place bollards at this bus stop to prevent incidents like what happened here. Netivei Israel said it wasn’t safe and refused to install the bollards. We foresaw what happened here, and sadly Netivei Israel still hasn’t changed its stance.”