Gal Keidan, 19, killed in Samaria terror attack; 2 wounded, 1 critically

One victim was killed and two were wounded in a double terror attack in Samaria Sunday. The family of the critically injured victim, a father of 12, has issued a request for prayers.

By TPS

First Sergeant Gal Keidan, a combat soldier in the 334th Battalion in the Artillery Corps, was stabbed to death Sunday morning in a Palestinian terror attack at the Ariel Junction in Samaria.

The terrorist then stole his weapon, fired at civilians, got into a car he had stolen, drove to the Gitai Avisar Junction and shot at Israelis at a bus station.

Keidan, 19, from the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant posthumously. He will be laid to rest on Monday at the city’s military cemetery.

Another IDF soldier was seriously wounded by a shooting at the nearby Gitai Avisar junction during the second phase of the attack.

Meanwhile, the family of Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, who was critically wounded in the attack at the Ariel Junction, has asked the public to pray for his recovery. He is currently hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit and listed in critical condition after being shot in the head.

Ettinger, 47, from the Samarian town of Eli, is the father of 12 children, one of whom serves in an elite IDF combat unit.

He was shot while sitting in his car at the junction. He drew his weapon and was about to shoot at the terrorist when he was struck by the terrorist’s bullets.

IDF forces have launched a broad manhunt for the terrorist.