Two terrorist attacks in under three hours
Tensions rise in the Binyamin area as two terrorist attacks are attempted in the span of just a few hours, aimed at both civilians and soldiers.
Palestinian terrorists carried out two attacks in the span of three hours on Wednesday by Palestinian terrorists, raising tensions in the Mateh Binyamin area.
The first was a vehicular attack that took place in a bus station near the Kokhav Ya'akov settlement. The second took place a few hours later when a terrorist shot at an army outpost near Abud village. In both cases there were no Israeli casualties, and the terrorists were neutralized.
These are the fourth and fifth terror attacks in the West Bank since the start of January. Deputy Head of the Binyamin Regional Council Yisrael Gantz said that "there are active firing squads in the area. There were shootings in the attack near Abud and in the three other attacks this month."
"We are feeling that terrorism is rearing is head and are preparing accordingly," he added. "The army here is doing good work. The soldiers in the field understand that times are critical and might point to a trend. We expect decisiveness and a firm hand against the terrorists. Another important thing is deterrence, and that is obtained steadily. There is no need to be ashamed."
The attack near Kokhav Ya'akov took took place just before 7pm when a Palestinian swerved from the road towards a bus stop and hit the concrete poles stationed around it during the latest wave of terrorism. He was shot dead by soldiers who were in the area after they noticed that he was also carrying a knife.
Just before 9:30pm, the second attack took place: A Palestinian shot at an army outpost from a moving vehicle. Soldiers from Haruv Battalion of the Kfir Brigade shot back at the terrorist, who was severely injured. A Carlo gun was found in the vehicle.
These were not the only terrorist incidents that took place on Wednesday: Earlier, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Migdal Oz village's fence, and before that a Palestinian driver broke through the Hizma checkpoint in Jerusalem.
"Tensions are rising for several days now," said Eyal Ben Reuven, a resident of Kokhav Ya'akov. "The vehicular attack was aimed at a bus station full of people, and if not for the concrete poles built around it, it could have ended much differently. These incidents make us fear that this is a new wave of terror attacks after a relatively quiet period."
Officials at the Judea and Samaria Division saw a correlation between the attacks. Unlike the residents of the area, the IDF claims that there is a decrease in terrorist attacks compared to last month (13). The army acknowledges that even while the area has calmed within the last six months, there are still terrorist attempts every now and again, sometimes even in the same area.
The driver neutralized near Kokhav Ya'akov was 24-year-old Hussein Salem Abu Ghosh, resident of Kalandia village near Jerusalem. His cousin of the same name and residence stabbed 24 year old Shlomit Krigman in Beit Horon just last year. Krigman died of her wounds the following day.
