Two Israeli Shabak officers were wounded Tuesday in a terror attack in the Oz Ve’Gaon nature reserve close to the Gush Etzion junction a few minutes south of Jerusalem.
Oz Ve’Gaon is located between the Gush Etzion junction and the community of Migdal Oz.
The officers were shot by a Palestinian Authority terrorist from Jenin. One of the victims is reported to be in serious condition. Both victims were evacuated, conscious, to nearby Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem for medical treatment.
One of the injured is listed in a serious and stable condition and the other is in good condition. Both are undergoing evaluation, initial treatment and imaging tests.
The terrorist was neutralized, the IDF said.
Both officers were reportedly Shin Bet intelligence agents who were meeting with a Palestinian Authority Arab to discuss the possibility of cooperating with the agency.
“The meeting got complicated between the terrorist and two members of the security forces. After the terrorist opened fire at them unexpectedly, one of them returned fire and killed him,” Israel’s Channel 14 News journalist Hillel Rosen reported.
The Shin Bet swiftly denied the details of the report.
“The security establishment denies that this was a meeting that ‘got complicated’ and clarifies: It was not a terrorist who unexpectedly opened fire on security forces members who met with him, but rather a terrorist who ambushed two security forces members who were in the course of a routine operational activity.”
In a subsequent statement, the Shin Bet said in statement, “During an operational activity at the Gush Etzion intersection, a terrorist opened fire at two Shin Bet fighters. The two returned fire at the terrorist and neutralized him on the spot. The two Shin Bet fighters were injured as a result of the shooting; they were taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
“The terrorist who carried out the attack is Ziad Khameran, 30 years old, a resident of Jenin.
“The investigation into the attack continues.”
