5 Injured, 1 Critically In Terrorist Attack At Tunnel Road Checkpoint, 3 Terrorists Eliminated

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In a terrorist attack which occurred at the tunnel checkpoint just south of Jerusalem Thursday morning, five people were reported injured.

One of the victims is in critical condition, two others in moderate condition and two others suffered light injuries. The terrorists were eliminated.

Magen David Adom (MDA) evacuated four of the victims to hospitals: a 20-year-old man who suffered very severe injuries was evacuated unconscious to Shaare Tzedek, with medics battling for his life. Two victims who suffered moderate injuries – a woman of about 20 and a man of about 32; and a man of about 20 who suffered light injuries.

Lital Sherzman, an MDA paramedic, was in a car behind the terrorists and described how they got out their car and started shooting at the soldiers at the checkpoint. After the terrorists were eliminated, she raced out of her car and started treating the injured soldiers alone until the arrival of other medical responders.

Initial investigations show that three terrorists, apparently from Hevron, arrived by vehicle at the scene of the attack, opened fire, and were eliminated. Kalashnikov rifles have been found at the scene of the attack.

Weapons found on terrorists at tunnel checkpoint

Due to a suspicion of explosive devices in the terrorists car, a bomb disposal unit was called to check for such devices.

Efrat Regional Council head Oded Ravivi decried the huge daily bottlenecks at the checkpoint, the main one for all traffic entering Jerusalem from the south, calling them “death traps endangering all those on the road”.

Ravici said that “The operational need for a check is obvious but creating one long traffic jam which stems from a lack of security officers endangers people and creates static targets for the terrorists. It is appalling to imagine what would have happened if the terrorists had opened fire on the cars in the traffic backup, with ambulances unable to reach them. We need an immediate solution to save lives.”