Hidden roadside bomb explodes, seriously injures driver in northern Israel

21-year-old man seriously injured after explosive device detonates on highway in northern Israel, near the Green Line.

By World Israel News Staff

An explosion in northern Israel, apparently caused by a roadside bomb, left one man seriously injured, police said Monday morning.

The victim, 21-year-old Shareef ad-Din, a resident of the Israeli-Arab village of Salem in the Jezreel Valley, was driving down eastbound Route 65 near Megiddo Junction at approximately 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning when an explosion on the side of the road struck his vehicle – a road maintenance truck – as it passed by.

Emergency first responders from Magen David Adom were dispatched to the scene, treating ad-Din before evacuating him to Emek Medical Center in Afula. He was later transferred to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

Ad-Din was fully conscious as he was evacuated via ambulance. He is listed in serious condition, suffering shrapnel wounds across his entire body, including his head.

Police closed Route 65 to traffic in both directions around the scene of the explosion until 3:30 p.m.

According to the findings of a preliminary probe of the incident, the explosion was caused by a bomb hidden behind a barrier on the shoulder of the road.

A joint investigation by police and the Shin Bet internal security agency has been opened into the explosion, amid suspicions the bombing may have been terror-related.

The scene of the bombing is just 3 kilometers (1.87 miles) away from the Green Line separating pre-1967 Israel from Samaria.

If Monday’s explosion is found to be the result of a terrorist bombing, it would be the latest in a string of Palestinian Arab terror attacks across the country.

Last Thursday, a Hamas terrorist opened fire on pedestrians on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street, wounding three, before he was eliminated by security personnel.

That same evening, an Arab terrorist planted a bomb on a bus in the haredi city of Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem.

The next day, a terrorist infiltrated an Israeli farm in Samaria, brandishing knives and a hurling multiple bombs, two of which exploded.

The owner of the farm responded with gunfire, fatally wounding the terrorist.