Israeli man, two daughters wounded in Palestinian shooting attack

Jerusalem [Israel], July 16 (ANI/TPS): 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 the Gush Etzion region south of Jerusalem 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.

The Magen David Adom is Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service.

Paramedics also treated two girls, ages nine and 14, who were injured by flying glass, according to MDA.

“We arrived at the scene in a few minutes and saw a lot of commotion,” said Nathanel Rabi, a senior medic with Magen David Adom. “A 35-year-old man was lying on the road while he was conscious and suffering from gunshot wounds to his body. We gave him medical treatment in cooperation with an IDF medical force and evacuated him in an MDA intensive care vehicle to the hospital when his condition was serious and stable. Two other injured people who were walking around the place were slightly injured by shrapnel and were taken to the hospital while being given medical treatment.”

The man was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek Medical Center which said the man was conscious and in stable condition with gunshot wounds in the upper body.

Israeli forces launched a manhunt for the terrorist, who fled by car, the military said in a statement.

The Prime Minister’s Office said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was hospitalized in Tel Aviv overnight for dehydration, was briefed on the attack.

“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.