August 7, Attack in West Bank

August 7, Attack in West Bank, originally uploaded by anonimoh2005.

Last update - 19:36 07/08/2005



Israeli boy seriously hurt in West Bank Fatah attack



By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service



In a terror drive-by shooting near Ramallah Sunday morning, Fatah gunmen shot and critically wounded a 10-year-old Israeli boy north of the West Bank town of Ramallah.



The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of the mainstream Fatah claimed the attack, saying it was a response to last Thursday's shooting in Shfaram, in which an Israel Defense Forces deserter opened fire in an Egged bus killing four Israeli Arabs.



The driver of the car in which the boy was riding was lightly injured by shrapnel. He is a resident of the nearby settlement of Ateret.



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The father of the boy, who was driving in a car next to the one hit, came out unscathed in the attack.



At midday, the boy, wounded in the head, was undergoing surgery at Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital reported that the child's condition was stable.



The victims' car was driving on the Ramallah bypass road in the direction of Ateret. The gunmen opened fire while passing the British Police Station intersection.



After the attack, they abandoned their car and set it afire near Jelazoun refugee camp, Israel Radio reported. It appears that the terrorists placed a gas canister in the car, which they intended to blow up as a secondary attack when security forces arrived at the scene of the shooting.