Arab terrorists shot at an Israeli bus driving in the Jordan Valley area on Sunday, critically injuring one person and wounding several others. The latest update indicates seven wounded, which includes a seriously wounded soldier suffering from gunshot wounds, a lightly wounded civilian, and five more lightly wounded soldiers from glass fragments.
An initial inquiry shows that the shooting attack was carried out from a car driving by the bus. The car blocked the bus, threw firebombs at the bus and then opened fire. The car then drove off. The attack happened on Route 578 between Beka’ot and the Beka’ot Junction.
MDA medics and paramedics provided medical treatment on the spot to two wounded in moderate condition and fully conscious. A helicopter was launched to the site of the attack. Another three casualties were treated for light injuries incurred from glass shards.
Senior MDA medic Mati Karmi said that when they arrived on site they found outside the bus two casualties suffering from gunshot wounds who were being treated by IDF medics and civilians. One of them is a man about 60 years old and the other is younger. They were fully conscious and communicated with the MDA team.
In addition, three others were injured by broken glass.
“We gave them medical treatment and transferred the two wounded from the shooting to the MDA helicopter that landed nearby and evacuated them to Rambam Hospital. The two lightly wounded were evacuated in our ambulances to the Emek Hospital in Afula,” he said.
Israeli schools in the area were locked down and all Israeli travel in the area was blocked.
Two of the terrorists were captured shortly after the attack after the car they were driving in turned over. Some reports indicate that it caught fire after a firebomb the terrorists threw at the bus also set their car on fire. Weapons were found in the car. The terrorists are suffering from burns.
Searches were launched for further suspects.
Israeli security experts are warning that terrorism in Judea and Samaria has significantly increased in recent months, and is expected to continue to do so.
Kan 11 reported on Tuesday an uptick in the number of shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria since the beginning of the year. About 60 such attacks have occurred since the beginning of 2022, compared to about 50 shooting attacks in all of 2021, 48 in 2020, and 61 in 2019.
So far this year, the security forces have succeeded in thwarting about 220 shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria.
Security officials recognize that the terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip are encouraging the escalation in Judea and Samaria. Part of the funding for the Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorist organizations comes directly from Iran.
Israeli analyst Yoni Ben Menachem, of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), reported last week that there are “alarming signs of security escalation” in Judea and Samaria and Iran is pushing the Islamic Jihad to try and take over the Samaria area, especially around Jenin.
Over the past year, the Islamic Jihad organization, under Iran’s guidance, has been working to establish an independent territory that will not be subject to the power of the Palestinian Authority.
In the city of Jenin and in the neighboring villages, there are already several hundred armed terrorists, thousands of weapons, and large quantities of ammunition. The Islamic Jihad managed to push the PA completely out of the Jenin area and established a new military framework called the “Jenin Battalion” which also includes armed activists from other groups such as Fatah’s “al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades” and Hamas.
This framework began to spread towards the areas of Shechem and Tulkarm and carried out shooting attacks against IDF forces and Israeli civilians.
