Soldier wounded in Samaria car-ramming attack regains consciousness
Significant improvement recorded in the condition of one of the soldiers hurt in Friday's terror attack on route 585 between the settlements of Mevo Dotan and Hermesh, in which two of his fellow troops were killed.
The soldier is being cared for at the Intensive Care Unit of the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
Two soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in Friday's attack, after a Palestinian terrorist rammed into an IDF patrol with his car on route 585 between the settlements of Mevo Dotan and Hermesh.
The attack took place when the four left their military jeep to man a nearby guard, where Palestinians have been throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the road.
When they were spotted by the terrorist, the troops were standing near a pillbox post located between the village of Ya'bad and nearby olive plantations. The two slain soldiers were standing at the front of their jeep, while the other two stood on the vehicle's other side, near the road.
Upon spotting the soldiers, the terrorist veered from the road, sped up, and hit the officer and the soldier who was standing with him first. The two were killed instantly.
Then, the terrorist sped towards the two other troops, wounding one very seriously and the other moderately. At some point, the terrorist also hit the barbed-wire fence that surrounded the pillbox post.
The soldiers murdered in the attack were identified as Lieutenant Ziv Daus, 21, of Azur, and Sergeant Netanel Kahalani, 20, of Elyakim. Daus was a company commander with the army's search and rescue brigade, whereas Kahalani was a driver in Menashe Territorial Brigade routine security operations.
The two received the customary posthumous promotions to higher ranks.
Overnight Friday, IDF forces from the Menashe Territorial Brigade carried out extensive operations in the village of Barta'a, the home of Alaa Kabha, 26, the terrorist who carried out the ramming attack.
A suspect was arrested during the operation, and troops conducted searches for hidden weapons. The following day, IDF forces put up checkpoints around the village, inspecting Palestinian vehicles traveling in the vicinity, fearing more people from the village or Kabha's extended clan will be inspired to commit similar attacks.
Shin Bet released a statement Saturday evening saying that while the terrorist initially insisted the attack was merely an accident, he confessed under interrogation to having acted under nationalistic motives.
