West Bank shooting victim's life in danger
Malachi Moshe Rosenfeld, whose brother died 13 years ago, was very seriously wounded in terror attack; three others suffered light-to-moderate wounds.
One Israeli was seriously wounded and three others suffered moderate wounds on Monday night when they came under gunfire at the Shvut Rachel junction near Shilo in the West Bank.
The wounded were in a car at the time, returning home from a basketball game.
It was the fourth terror attack in four days and the sixth in the ten days since the Muslim holiday of Ramadan began.
The seriously wounded man has been identified as Malachi Moshe Rosenfeld. His older brother was an IAF pilot who died on a trip to Tze'elim Stream in the Judean Desert in 2002.
"This is a difficult hour," said his father, Eliezer, at the hospital on Monday night. "This is a difficult hour for the entire Israeli people. We know your prayer has power. Please pray wholeheartedly for the Almighty to heal and save him, and we are certain that you will send him strength to fight and that the doctors will do their work."
"When we returned from the basketball game, a vehicle was slowly driving in front of us, and we suddenly we heard the shots and realized we were being shot at," said Yair Hoffer, who was lightly wounded in the shooting.
"Thank God, we were a few meters away from the junction. It's possible that if I had been driving, we would have been closer to the junction and it would have been easier for them to aim. I didn't see how many people were there. I guess they shot about a magazine. When they were done they didn't drive very fast, they drove slowly, I think they were debating whether to leave the vehicle. I crawled outside through the window.
"When the shots start you just curl up and try to protect your head. I will never forgoet the feeling, it's just helplessness. When someone decides to try to take your life, and you didn't do anything to him. Decided to try taking your life because he realized you're a Jew. And you're helpless…
"It's also important for me to say, they say 'settlers', like if it were in Tel Aviv it would be different. I'm a settler, what does that mean? I grew up in Jerusalem and I looked for a nice place with a community to raise my children."
Large forces of the Judea and Samaria Division, including fighters of the Duvdevan unit, searched the area of the attack clues. The Israeli vehicle that was attacked was travelling north along the Alon Road. The two main leads are that the attack came from a passing Palestinian vehicle or an ambush set by the terrorists on the side of the road, along with a getaway vehicle. IDF searches were expected to extend to nearby Palestinian villages..
Dr. Ofer Merin, head of the trauma unit and Deputy Director General of Shaare Zedek Medical Center said: "Around midnight two wounded in a shooting attack arrived. One in light condition, and the second in very serious condition. He was wounded in several places and arrived in very serious condition, in a state of resuscitation. He was treated in the trauma unit. He went into surgery a half hour later. Unfortunately, his life is currently in danger."
After the attack, stones were thrown at a Jewish vehicle at the Hizmah checkpoint on Highway 60, on the axis between Jerusalem and the scene of the attack. There were no casualties security forces searched the area.
MK Moti Yogev of Bayit Yehudi, a family friend of one of the wounded, arrived at the hospital and said: "There is no doubt that the defense establishment and Central Command have to make a reassessment in light of the recent attacks."
The shooting occurred on the same day that a Palestinian woman attacked a female IDF soldier, stabbing her in the neck at the Rachel checkpoint near Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.
The attacker, 20-year-old Misoun Mussa from Bethlehem, was not known to security forces and does not have a criminal record.
Mussa was found to have two other knives on her person. During questioning by the Shin Bet, she said she arrived at the crossing to kill a soldier. The initial assessment was that she acted alone.
