The terrorist opened fire at the victims’ car from another vehicle near the Tekoa Junction in Gush Etzion; IDF forces are searching for the shooter.
By JNS
An Israeli man was shot and seriously wounded, and his two daughters lightly injured, in a Palestinian drive-by shooting near the Tekoa Junction in Gush Etzion in Judea on Sunday.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, a terrorist opened fire from a passing vehicle at the victims’ car on a highway about 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Jerusalem.
Magen David Adom emergency medical personnel treated a man in his 30s on the scene for a gunshot wound to the upper body. He was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Paramedics also treated two girls, ages nine and 14, who were injured by flying glass, according to MDA.
Israeli forces launched a manhunt for the terrorist, who fled by car, the military said in a statement.
“We all wish a speedy recovery to the persons wounded and encourage the security forces, who will soon catch the despicable terrorists and settle the score with them. We will not give in to the terrorists who seek to spill Jewish blood and throw us out of our country,” said Gush Etzion Regional Council Mayor and Yesha Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman.
On Wednesday, an Israeli soldier and a Border Police officer were injured during clashes with Palestinians in the town of Turmus Aya, located near Shechem (Nablus) in Samaria.
The soldier sustained minor injuries when a suspect attacked him, and was evacuated to the hospital for treatment. The officer was struck by a rock and treated at the scene.
The forces had entered the town to seize some NIS 650,000 ($177,000) earmarked for terror activities.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced that six Palestinians had been charged in connection with a string of shootings over the past few months in Judea and Samaria.
The terrorists all hailed from the Palestinian-controlled village of al-Mughayyir, and their attacks mostly centered around the Jewish community of Shiloh, according to the agency.
Members of the cell procured firearms from a dealer near Jenin and had contact with “terror elements” in the Gaza Strip in a bid to seek funding, according to the security agency.
Last Monday, the Hamas-linked Al-Ayyash Battalion said it fired two rockets from the Jenin area towards the Jewish community of Shaked, located in northern Samaria.
The IDF subsequently located two rocket launchers and two makeshift projectiles near the town.
Earlier this month, the military launched a major counterterror operation in Jenin, including the entry into the Samaria city of significant ground forces.
More than 1,000 IDF troops participated in the campaign, which is believed to have been the largest deployment in Judea and Samaria in two decades.