IDF continues pursuit of terror cell behind Sunday shooting in Samaria

The IDF continues its pursuit of the terrorists who fired upon Jews waiting at a hitchhiking spot.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israel Defense Forces continue their pursuit of the occupants of the vehicle who fired upon Jews waiting at a hitchhiking spot on the road near the Jewish town of Ofra in Samaria, Israel Hayom reports.

Footage shows the shooters firing from a white vehicle as the civilian hitchhikers ran for cover. Six were injured, including a pregnant woman. The woman is stable but the condition of the infant, who was removed from the womb, has deteriorated, according to the latest reports.

The IDF is focusing on the village of Silwad in Samaria, according to Palestinian reports. Silwad is a village affiliated with Hamas, which has recently been trying to increase its hold on Judea and Samaria, Israel Hayom says.

Hamas praised the attack: “The action in the West Bank proves that the resistance exists in the West Bank despite the occupation’s attempts to destroy it. The actions against the occupation in the West Bank will continue. ”

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office confirmed that IDF soldiers, Border Police and security forces were combing Arab villages in the area of ​​Samaria and Benjamin in search for the terrorists.

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Meirav Sharvit, 17, who was lightly wounded in the attack together with her friend Chen Antebi, 16, described the scene from her hospital bed in Shaare Tzedek Medical Center to Israel Hayom:

“Chen and I stood at the hitchhiking spot. I stood with my back to the road and Chen stood in front of me … I had never seen what gunfire looked like in my life. At first I was sure it was detonators or fireworks. It was full of them from all directions. People went down on the floor, crawled, hid. I crawled with Chen behind the hitchhiking station. There’s a monument there for a man who was murdered there a year ago. We hid behind until the rescue forces arrived. We were bundled into the air and it was full of screams and ambulances.”

Israel Hayom notes that there has been a rise in terror attacks in recent months in Judea and Samaria, dating from October 7 when a terrorist killed two Israelis and injured a third at the Barkan Industrial Park near the city of Ariel in Samaria. The terrorist is still at large in that terror attack.