An 84-year-old Jewish man who went in overnight Sunday to refuel his car in Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem, was hit with cinderblocks and other objects by Arabs on his way out. The man’s car collided with a concrete barrier and he was injured. In the end, the Palestinian Authority security forces sent representatives to escort him out to the nearby checkpoint. From there, the man was taken for medical treatment at Shaare Zedek Hospital, where his condition is mild. Meanwhile, the Arab mob set fire to his car.
Qalandia is a PA village located between Jerusalem and Ramallah, just northwest of the Jerusalem municipality boundary. According to the Oslo Accords, 2% of Qalandiya’s land is classified as Area B, under Arab municipal control and Israeli security control, while the remaining 98% is Area C, with complete Israeli control. The Qalandia checkpoint is the main checkpoint between northern Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem.
A week ago Saturday, Amnon Mokhtar, 66, from Petah Tikva, was murdered in a shooting attack in Qalqilya, also on Israel’s Green Line border. Terrorists shot him after he entered the city with his car and then set his car on fire. He was first transferred to a PA hospital for medical treatment and from there he was handed over to Magen David Adom. After interrogating residents in Qalqilya, the security establishment said that the Israeli victim used to enter the PA city to do shopping. A source in the PA security forces involved in the investigation told Kan 11 news that vegetables he had bought in the city were found in his car.
Following the attack in Qalqilya, Israel Police issued a warning regarding driving near area A, according to which the passengers in the area are being targeted for nationalistic attacks. “Recently, we have witnessed many cases of Israeli citizens entering Area A, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority,” the police said in a statement. “Entering these areas is prohibited by law for citizens of the State of Israel and may cost human lives, as has happened in recent days. Many Israelis deliberately enter these areas for shopping, trading, repairing their cars, and more, thus putting their lives at risk and often encountering incidents of assault, robbery, and theft, and constitute a target for harm for nationalistic motives.”
