Tel-Chai Nation: Rock-throwing jihadists arrested for causing auto accident and injuries

At least 10 Muslim stone throwers were arrested for causing a serious accident near Ariel:

IDF special forces arrested ten Palestinian men overnight Friday on suspicion of hurling rocks at an Israeli vehicle and being behind an attack that led the car to veer off the road, hit a truck, and leave a three-year-old girl fighting for life. Three members of her family are moderately injured.

The suspects were arrested after "accurate intelligence that was quickly assembled" reached the army, the IDF said. Duvdevan undercover soldiers took part in the arrest operation.

Eights suspects were arrested in the village of Haras, and two in the village of Harath, southeast of Kalkiliya.

The arrest operation was led by the commander of the Efraim Regional Brigade, Col. Ran Kahana. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Israel Police also took part. The suspects have been taken for questioning.

The IDF said it took a grave view of rock throwing attacks, and vowed to continue to act overtly and covertly to secure the residents of the area.

A senior army source told The Jerusalem Post, “We will, through intelligence and operational steps, seek to capture the attackers.”

Among those lightly wounded on the bus by glass shattered by rocks was the wife of former Likud MK Yehiel Hazon.

But the Magen David Adom medics who raced to the scene near the Barkan settlement, not far from Ariel, around 6:25 p.m. focused on the mother, 32, and her daughters, aged two, four and six.

It took 25 minutes to pull the family out of the car, medic Muawia Kabha said.

The youngest girl was not breathing and was resuscitated with a mouth-to-mouth procedure, he said. Medics were able to revive her, but she was unconscious and in critical condition, he said.

The mother was also in moderate condition but was conscious, Kabha said. The two girls in the back seat were moderately wounded, because they were not in the part of the vehicle trapped under the truck, he said.

“It was an awful scene. It looked like a terrorist attack,” he added.

The mother, the toddler and the six-year-old were moved to Schneider Hospital after being taken to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, while the four-year-old was sent to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. As of press time, the toddler was in surgery.

Spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said police had received a number of calls about stone-throwing on the road at that time.

It was a form of terrorist attack. If anything, it was Islamic jihad. I hope the youngest victim will be okay. Nevertheless, the perpetrators must be given severe jail terms and even hard labor for the damage they caused.

Naftali Bennett responded to this abomination on his Facebook page and said:

Bayit Yehudi chairman MK Naftali Bennett reacted Thursday evening to the rock terror attack that has left a baby struggling for her life in hospital, alongside her wounded mother and two sisters.

"Rocks kill," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"A three-year-old toddler is currently in critical condition because of a rock terror attack.

"A mother and her three daughters (3, 4 and 5) were driving on the Trans-Samaria Highway a short time ago. A terrorist threw a rock at a truck, causing the truck to veer and hit the vehicle of the mother and her daughters.

"The baby girl, as we said, is in critical condition. And the mother and the two other girls are in moderate condition.

"Some people take rock throwing lightly, and prevent action against them. Rock throwers are trying to murder and they need to be treated accordingly.

"Let us pray for the life of the baby girl."