(JNS) — Three Israelis were wounded on Thursday morning in a terrorist attack in the Jordan Valley.
A Palestinian gunman opened fire on a school bus and several cars traveling along Route 90, near Al-Auja, north of Jericho.
The terrorist ambushed passing vehicles from the side of the road, firing at them from a standing position and then immediately fleeing the scene, according to eyewitnesses.
The terrorist was masked and wearing clothing resembling an IDF uniform.
Israeli forces launched a manhunt for the perpetrator.
Amid the search, the head of the IDF’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, held a situational assessment at the scene of the attack.
Magen David Adom emergency medics treated a 30-year-old man with moderate gunshot wounds and another man in his 20s who was lightly injured. A 13-year-old boy was also lightly injured by glass shards.
The two adult victims were evacuated to Hadassah-Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem while the teen was being treated at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital.
“We must defeat the enemy while deepening our roots in the land of our forefathers. Precisely now is the time to apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, an area whose importance is not disputed in Israeli society,” said Israeli lawmaker Dan Illouz, a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“This would be a victory remembered for generations,” he added.
Yesha Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman demanded that the tide be turned, saying: “The Palestinian Authority is waging a war against us, and only action with the same force as in Gaza will eliminate all threats throughout Judea and Samaria.
“We call on the government of Israel and its leader to on the one hand allow the development of settlements without restrictions and on the other hand to go to war to eliminate the vile enemy. Jewish blood will not be spilled in vain,” added Ne’eman.
Separately on Thursday, a Palestinian suspect was arrested after refusing to be checked by IDF soldiers at the Bekaa crossing and subsequently driving through the barrier.
A chase ensued and soldiers apprehended the suspect.
There were no injuries to Israeli forces and the suspect was transferred for questioning.
The Bekaa crossing is located on Route 90 in the northern Jordan Valley, near the village of Tayasir in Samaria.
On Friday, IDF Sgt. First Class Ilay David Garfinkel, 21, was killed and six other soldiers wounded in a shootout with a Palestinian terrorist in Samaria.
The attack began when the terrorist, identified as Mujahid Barakat Mansour, opened fire with a sniper rifle on an Israeli minibus traveling near Dolev, located west of Ramallah in the Binyamin region.
No one was injured in the attack, but during the ensuing manhunt, Israeli forces engaged Mansour in gun battles that lasted several hours, resulting in the casualties.
The IDF deployed additional troops to the area along with aerial support, including a combat helicopter, and the terrorist was eventually killed by a missile strike.
