An altercation between Israeli civilians and Palestinians south of Hebron on Saturday resulted in a Palestinian seizing a weapon from an Israeli and firing several shots before escaping, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Rocks were hurled by both sides, leaving one Israeli wounded and requiring medical evacuation.
IDF soldiers established roadblocks near the Jewish community of Susya and pursued the assailant. The Mount Hebron Regional Council described the incident as an attack on a local farmer and active-duty reservist soldier on leave who was grazing his flock. The Palestinian fired toward a nearby farm before fleeing with the stolen weapon. Soldiers later recovered the weapon and continued pursuing the suspect.
Eliram Azulay, head of the Mount Hebron Regional Council, said the reservist was wounded by rock-throwing and "was evacuated in moderate condition to the hospital." He stated that "terror against the communities is escalating to a very dangerous stage. The terror is trying to frighten us and expel us from here. We will add more life and expand the settlement enterprise in the area." Azulay called on the IDF to launch a wide-scale operation in the region to protect residents.
The incident followed a Friday attack near Havat Gilad west of Nablus, where a Palestinian obtained a weapon during a confrontation with Israeli civilians and opened fire. Benayahu Melet, 32, a security team member and agriculture director, was killed. Maj. Yuval Ezra, 27, a battalion commander, later died from his wounds. Six others were injured. The shooter was killed by soldiers, and three additional Palestinians were killed in the ensuing gunfight. The IDF and Shin Bet announced that undercover commandos arrested two other wounded suspects at a Nablus hospital, with all attackers identified and forces continuing to apprehend remaining suspects.