Siblings Wounded in Gush Etzion Terror Attack, 1 Seriously

17-year-old Israeli fights for his life in a Jerusalem hospital after he and his sister, 19, were run down near the town of Elazar. The driver, a Palestinian man from Bethlehem, was killed at the scene by security forces.

By JNS

Nahum Navis, 17, and his sister, Noam, 19, were intentionally run down on Friday by a speeding car outside their home town of Elazar in Gush Etzion. Nahum’s injuries are life-threatening, while his sister’s are moderate.

The driver, who was killed by security forces at the scene, was named by police as Ala’ Khader al-Hreimi, 27, of Bethlehem. The car used in the attack was stolen. Al-Hreimi had spent time in Israeli prison for terror-related activities and was known to security services as an operative of Fatah and Islamic Jihad.

An off-duty police officer caught the attack on camera and, when al-Hreimi attempting to exit the vehicle, shot and killed him, according to police.

Nahum underwent emergency neurosurgery after being transported by Magen David Adom emergency medical services to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center-Ein Kerem in an unresponsive state, “in severe condition with multi-system trauma.”

His sister, Noam, who suffered moderate injuries in the attack, was transferred to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where her condition improved. She was subsequently moved to the same hospital as her brother.

According to police, the off-duty officer began filming the attacker’s car (white, with Israeli license plates) due to its excessive speed. Both the officer and the attacker were were on Route 60 in the Gush Etzion region. Suddenly, the vehicle veered off the road and struck Noam and Nahum, who had been standing by a bus stop outside the community of Elazar.

The bus stop is protected against such vehicular assaults by metal barriers, but the siblings were reportedly standing off to the side when the attack occurred.

The attacker’s vehicle then flipped over and came to rest behind the bus stop.

When the driver attempted to exit the vehicle, the off-duty officer shot and killed him, according to police.

The victims’ family, which lives in Elazar, has asked the public to pray for their full recovery.

Friday’s terror attack followed the Thursday stabbing of a police officer by two Palestinians outside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, and the August 7 murder of Dvir Sorek, 19, whose body was found not far from scene of Friday’s attack, near Migdal Oz.