Wednesday morning, a 15-year-old Palestinian girl armed with a knife was shot by IDF forces as she tried to enter Yitzhar, a settlement near Nablus.The troops provided medical assistance to the wounded would-be attacker. In a separate incident, near the entrance to Ma’aleh Adumim outside of Jerusalem, police officers pulled over a car who they believed the passengers were suspicious. They searched the vehicle and found two explosive devices. Police later said that an initial investigation showed that the two men had planned to use the explosive devices against security forces, but thankfully the attack was prevented.
At another hour on Wednesday afternoon, Israeli female combat soldier in the IDF was stabbed in the neck and critically wounded near Binyamin, not far from Jerusalem, by one attacker. Another female soldier shot the attacker dead. The surrounding area was closed off for fears that the terrorist’s body was booby-trapped with explosives.
On Wednesday evening, four IDF troops were wounded in a vehicular attack in Beit Umar, a West Bank town north of Hebron.One was in moderate-to-serious condition while the rest were lightly wounded. The attacker was shot and critically wounded at the scene.
Concluding Wednesday’s attacks, a Jewish man, who security forces mistook for a nationalistically-motivated attacker, was shot and killed in central Jerusalem. Initial investigation by the IDF’s criminal investigation division (CID) found that the Jewish man, who is believed to be a security guard, suspected that armed soldiers that boarded a bus were terrorists, and asked them for identification.The soldiers, meanwhile, thought the Jewish man was a terrorist, claiming he attacked them and tried to grab one of their weapons. A physical altercation broke out between the soldiers and the man, which resulted in the man being shot by one of the soldiers. According to the killed man’s ID, he was a released IDF soldier who was studying at a yeshiva.
Wednesday evening, the red alert siren went off in southern Israel after a rocket was shot and landed in an open field. No injuries or damages were reported.
The daily violence continues and there is no clear sign of how Israeli security or government can put a complete stop to it. They are simply doing what they can to prevent any future attacks by tightening the security protocols. Netanyahu has made it very public that that Israel has no intentions of changing the status quo with the al-Aqsa mosque. Yet, incitement and “lone wolf” attacks continue. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for Israel as they address a very different and unique kind of terrorism taking place. Please pray for a full and healthy recovery for the wounded.