IDF thinks Israelis fabricated stone throwing incident

Three Israelis were wounded in car accident in the West Bank Monday night. One sustained serious injuries and the other two were lightly wounded. The men told security forces Palestinians in the village of Kifl Hares near the town of Ariel pelted their car with stones, but the police believe they were lying, because no signs of violence were found on their vehicle.

The three, all residents of the settlement of Elad, apparently entered the area along with another person in order to pray at the gravesite of Yehoshua Bin Nun. They said that upon leaving the site they stumbled upon a local wedding celebration, and when the villagers noticed their vehicle they began throwing stones at it.

According to the villagers, the pelting caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and crash into a wall. The driver was seriously injured, while his friends sustained only minor injuries. However, the IDF and the police think that the accident was caused by reckless driving.

After the accident the four abandoned the car and fled to the nearby Ariel Intersection, where they alerted rescue teams to the area.

Senior paramedic Alon Rizkan told Ynet: "We found three injured people – two were suffering from light injuries and one was badly wounded. We started treating him and managed to stabilize him. He was initially conscious, but his condition speedily deteriorated and he lost consciousness." An IDF helicopter was called to the place to evacuate the man.

In recent years the IDF has arranged for coordinated visits of worshippers to the gravesite. But in this case the men did not coordinate their entry with the army. Military sources said Monday they viewed the incident as severe, adding "any un-coordinated entry is irresponsible, dangerous and risks lives."

Raanan Ben Zur contributed to the report