Two Israelis were moderately wounded on Tuesday night in a shooting attack on Route 60 near Hawara, located just outside Nablus in Samaria.
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The victims came under fire while driving near the town and were wounded by glass shards when bullets shattered the windows of their vehicle. Magen David Adom emergency medical personnel treated the victims in their 30s who were then evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah.
"Both victims are classified as moderately wounded," Dr. Yoni Mendel, a doctor in the hospital's emergency department, told journalists, adding that the two are "currently undergoing evaluation and imaging."
Video: The two were shot at while driving / Credit: Nadav Goldstein/TPS
One of the wounded is the son of Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, who together with his wife Taliah were killed in a terror attack in Ofra in 2000, and grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who too was killed by a Muslim in New York in November 1990.
Israeli forces launched a manhunt for the perpetrator.
Last month, a Palestinian terrorist killed Shay Silas Nigrekar, 60, and his 28-year-old son Aviad Nir in Huwara. That attack took place after the two men had stopped at a car wash in the Palestinian Authority-controlled village. The terrorist walked up to the car wash on foot, opened fire at close range with a handgun and fled in a vehicle.
Hawara has emerged as a center of Palestinian terrorism, prompting Israeli authorities to heighten security there. The IDF recently upgraded the road infrastructure in Hawara to increase security for drivers on Route 60, the main north-south highway in Samaria that passes through the village. The changes followed a series of terrorist attacks there, including the murder of brothers Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, as they sat in traffic on Feb. 26.
In addition to the infrastructure changes, a large number of IDF soldiers have been deployed to the area and 13 new defensive positions were built to discourage attacks and to reduce security forces' response times. The IDF's Samaria Brigade has bolstered security inspections, including the deployment of additional checkpoint barriers.
The main section of a road that bypasses Hawara will open after the High Holidays. Transportation Minister Miri Regev recently toured the site together with the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan. The two announced that the road would open two months ahead of schedule due to the danger facing Judea and Samaria residents, who – without an alternative – are forced to drive through Hawara.
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