An IDF soldier sustained serious injuries Friday morning following a terrorist infiltration to the Samaria community of Beit El, north of Jerusalem.
According to initial details released by the military, the terrorist infiltrated an IDF position near the Beit El security fence. The soldier engaged the infiltrator, who both stabbed him and used a large rock to assault him at point-blank range, then fled the scene.
Security forces were canvassing the area for the terrorist.
The soldier was treated at the scene, then rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment.
A hospital official confirmed that the soldier was in serious condition, saying doctors had to sedate and intubate him to facilitate treatment.
"An IDF soldier was severely injured after a Palestinian terrorist struck him with a rock at a military post adjacent to Beit El," the military said on its Twitter page.
"The details of the incident are being examined. The soldier was evacuated for medical treatment. Our troops are searching the area."
A later military statement said, "The initial investigation of Friday's incident in Beit El has found that during a struggle between the soldier and the terrorist, the latter stabbed the soldier, then struck him with a large rock. The findings at the scene indicate that the terrorist was also injured in the struggle."
Friday's incident is the latest terrorist attack in the Binyamin region.
Two Israeli soldiers, Kfir Infantry Brigade Sgt. Yosef Cohen, 19, and Staff. Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef, 20, were gunned down Thursday near the Givat Asaf outpost in the Binyamin region. A third soldier was critically injured in the attack and a civilian, Shira Sabag, 20, sustained serious injuries.
This attack occurred four days after terrorists fired into a crowd at a hitchhiking post outside the settlement of Ofra, not far from the Givat Asaf attack. Seven people were wounded in the attack, including pregnant Shira Ish-Ran, whose baby was delivered in an emergency cesarean section following the shooting. The baby died three days later.
