At least 14 civilians were wounded late Thursday afternoon in a terrorist ramming attack on Route 65 at the Karkur junction near Pardes Hanna, in the Sharon Region.
According to Israel Police spokesperson Aryeh Doron, the terrorist first ran over a group of people at a bus stop, got out and stabbed others, then drove several hundred meters and hit a police officer before he was “neutralized.”
Following the attack the Police Commissioner conducted an on-site situational assessment.
“The terrorist, a 53-year-old Palestinian from the Jenin area, was in Israel unlawfully and married to an Israeli citizen. Preliminary findings indicate that he deliberately targeted civilians waiting at a bus stop,” a police spokesperson said.
The terrorist, who was neutralized, was identified as Jamil Ziyud Abu Jaab, from the village of Sila al-Harthiya in northern Samaria’s Jenin Governorate.
“A 17-year-old girl with head and limb injuries is sedated and on a ventilator,” Magen David Adom reported. “Two people are seriously injured — a 60-year-old man who sustained head and limb injuries who is sedated and on a ventilator, and a 19-year-old woman with head injuries who is conscious. Another injured woman was evacuated in moderate condition — an 18-year-old with injuries to her limbs, fully conscious — and 6 were lightly injured.”
A spokesperson for Hillel Jaffe Medical Center in Hadera subsequently reported that two victims are listed in serious condition, one is listed in critical condition, six victims are in fair (moderate) condition and three victims are being treated for anxiety.
The hospital has opened a hotline for those seeking further information: dial 1255166.
“They were near a bus station at the Karkur junction in the westbound lane when the vehicle struck them, and when we arrived, they were lying on the ground,” Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedic Avi Cohen said.
The victims told the medics they were hit by a vehicle that drove onto the sidewalk and then fled, MDA EMT Orly Keinan said.
“When terrorists are released, terrorism raises its head and attacks return like the attack that occurred at the Karkur Junction,” Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir said in a statement issued in response to the attack.
“Throughout the year I have said it is forbidden to make deals with terrorism; it gives the terrorists a fighting spirit. Now we are seeing the dire consequences. I pray together with the entire people of Israel for the healing of all the wounded.”
