IDF soldiers have captured a Palestinian Authority terrorist who is accused of setting an Israeli soldier afire. He was arrested and transferred to security personnel for interrogation.
The soldier, Shachar Madioni, is an officer who was dispersing Arab rioters in Hebron last Monday when he was hit in the shoulder by a Molotov cocktail (fire bomb) thrown by a terrorist.
His uniform immediately went up in flames. Miraculously, Madioni extinguished the fire.
In a subsequent interview with the Hebrew-language Israeli daily Yediot Ahronit, Madioni said, “Fortunately it caught fire on my vest and I immediately put the fire out with my hands. I estimate that it took two or three seconds, during which I felt a strong heat on my body.
“I experienced a miracle,” he said. “What prevented the fire from igniting on me was the protective equipment – the vest is built of flame retardant material that is made precisely for protection against firebombs. Fortunately it didn’t catch through to my clothing.”
Arab terrorists have continued to use Molotov cocktails in attacks on Israeli soldiers a number of times since that attack, and several times managed to directly hit IDF soldiers.
Each time, they failed to burn the soldier — miraculously, the soldiers were able to extinguish the flames immediately.