Israel Matzav

And again: Israeli seriously wounded in terror attack

IMPORTANT UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!

A 20-year old Israeli was seriously wounded this morning when he was shot a number of times in his abdomen and lower body while waiting for a ride at a hitchhiking post outside the Jewish town of Ariel in Samaria. The shooter shot from 100-150 meters away and then drove off. The wounded Israeli was taken by helicopter to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva. A second Israeli was hit in the legs and lightly wounded.

Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman, who arrived at the junction shortly after the shooting, called Wednesday's shooting a "classic case" of a shooting attack. Nachman reminded Army Radio that Ariel Junction has been the scene of multiple terror attacks in the past.

In 2002, three soldiers were killed and 19 other people wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself in approximately the same location. According to Nachman, three other bombings targeted a bus station on the other side of the road.

Police and the IDF set up roadblocks throughout the area in hope of catching the shooter. On Wednesday afternoon, security forces said they had located what they suspected was the vehicle used in the attack in the Palestinian village of Jamma'in near Ariel.

The car had been set on fire, and officials believed that the perpetrators used another one to escape, Army Radio reported.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were investigating the incident. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Here's betting it's 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah's 'armed wing,' the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. But let's give them some more money and a state reichlet so they'll stop shooting at us.

UPDATE 5:02 PM

I was right. It was al-Aqsa!

The Army of Tidings cell of the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades announced that it carried out Wednesday afternoon's shooting attack near Ariel in Samaria. A 20-year-old soldier was seriously wounded and a second person was lightly wounded by gunfire from a passing car as they apparently were waiting at a hitchhiking station.

Al Aksa is allied with the Fatah movement, headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The cell said the attack was in revenge for the death of an Islamic Jihad terrorist who died in this week's prison riot in a southern Negev prison.

But let's give Fatah more American money, eh Condi?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:37 PM