Ambulance shot en route to emergency in Arab-Israeli town

“If this trend is not stopped, I will not be surprised to see even more dangerous incidents occur,” said United Hatzalah chapter head Muhammed Abu Tuama.

By World Israel News Staff

At around midnight Friday night, a United Hatzalah ambulance that was responding to an emergency in the middle of a shift, near the northern Arab-Israeli town of Jatt, was damaged as unidentified assailants opened fire in the area and struck the vehicle.

It is unclear whether or not the ambulance was the intended target.

“The ambulance sustained a hit in the rear window and the bullet penetrated the ambulance and struck the stair chair that is hung by that window,” said Muhammed Abu Tuama, United Hatzalah’s Baqa el Gharbiya (near Jatt) chapter head.

“Thankfully, the team of volunteers inside the ambulance was not injured,” he said. “The incident could have ended in a shocking and appalling tragedy. The bullet could also have caused an explosion inside the ambulance due to the oxygen tanks stored in the ambulance right near where the bullet struck.”

However, he continued, “It is very sad for me to see incidents of violence rise across the Arab population. Residents have been suffering for a long time from murders, injuries, and acts of violence perpetrated without end. Now even ambulances are being struck by this violence.

“If this trend is not stopped, I will not be surprised to see even more dangerous incidents occur.”

The shots were fired in the city, which has no Jewish residents.

“We don’t know why the shots were fired or who exactly did the firing. Or whether the ambulance was a target or not. The police have not yet apprehended any suspects,” Raphael Poch, United Hatzalah spokesperson, told World Israel News.

“It is possible that they targeted the ambulance, but it is also possible that they were targeting someone else and the ambulance happened to get in the way,” he said.

Arab IsraelisIsraeli societyUnited Hatzalah