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Terror shooting in Samaria: 2 IDF soldiers dead, 2 seriously wounded

Two IDF soldiers are reported dead in a terrorist shooting attack in the Binyamin region in Samaria on Thursday. 

By David Isaac, World Israel News 

A shooting attack took place on Route 60 in the Binyamin region of Samaria. Two Israeli soldiers in their 20s were killed and two others injured, one described as “very seriously” and the other “seriously,” according to the latest reports.

The shooter opened fire at people standing at a hitch-hiking station off Route 60 near the Givat Assaf junction. Maariv reports that a suspect jumped out of a vehicle, fired shots, and the vehicle took off.

The IDF started a search for the terrorists and discovered the abandoned car near Ramallah. The IDF imposed a curfew on the city.

MDA Paramedic Shalom Galil, who initially treated the wounded at the scene, said: “When we arrived, we saw four young people with gunshot wounds near the hitchhiking station.”

“Two of them… received life-saving medical treatment on the scene. We took them to intensive care mobility and evacuated them urgently to the hospital when their condition was difficult,” Galil said.

Menachem Leff, head of United Hatzalah in the Binyamin Region, reported from the scene that: “The injured are young men around 20 years of age who are suffering from gunshot wounds.”

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The wounded soldiers were taken to Hadassah Medical Center and Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

The shooting took place only one-and-a-half miles from another drive-by shooting which occurred only five days ago on Dec. 9. Seven people were injured in that attack, including a pregnant mother who lost her seven-and-a-half month old child as a result.

Last night, Israel security forces killed one of the terrorists responsible for that attack, Saleh Barghouti, son of senior Hamas leader Omar Barghouti.

Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, said, “This is the second attack in a week, a very serious attack, and we can’t continue this way. Our main road constitutes a serious threat.”

Arutz 7 reports that Jewish Home Party MK Betzalel Smotrich said, “After the difficult aftermath of the attack now, the Jewish Home must demand from Netanyahu to immediately close roads in Judea and Samaria to Palestinians, and to pass next week our law to normalize the young settlements. We cannot be responsible for the abandonment of Jewish blood.”

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan, told Channel 13 news that there was no question that Israel was seeing an escalation in terror and said the way the way to fight it was two-fold: The destruction of the terrorists’ homes and the exile of the terrorists’ families.