News
IDF officer wounded in pipe bomb explosions near Jerusalem
An IDF officer was seriously injured yesterday evening when a series of pipe bombs exploded near the entrance to the Palestinian village of Hizma, north of Jerusalem.
The incident occurred when an IDF patrol exited their vehicle to examine a suspicious device on the roadside. As they approached the object, four pipe bombs were detonated. The patrol’s commander took much of the impact and was wounded in the face and elsewhere. He was evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem and is reported to be in a serious, although not life-threatening, condition.
IDF and Shin Bet forces cleared the area and closed off route 437, which runs north from Jerusalem into the West Bank. Upon further investigation, they found an additional five pipe bombs, which were subsequently disarmed. IDF forces have began a search for those responsible for planting the devices. Media reports suggest that Israeli forces seized closed circuit television footage from local homes and businesses in order to aid the effort.
Yesterday evening’s attack comes after two Israeli women in their eighties were stabbed and wounded in the morning whilst walking near a promenade in south Jerusalem. The women were approached by two masked men, who stabbed them and then fled the scene. The women were treated on the scene before being taken to a Jerusalem hospital. Israeli forces launched a manhunt for the assailants, who have not yet been apprehended.
Knife attacks have been a regular feature during the wave of terror incidents since October, which has seen at least 31 Israelis killed by Palestinian attackers. Although the attacks have subsided in recent weeks, a bus bombing not far from where yesterday morning’s knife attack took place injured twenty people last month.
Meanwhile, analyst Avi Issacharoff says in Times of Israel that the Palestinian Authority’s police force has recently significantly increased its activity in the Palestinian towns and villages around Jerusalem, in coordination with Israeli forces. Apparently, their activities have included terror-related arrests and the seizure of illegal weapons.