Itongadol.- An Israeli was seriously wounded on Sunday in a shooting attack near the West Bank city of Hebron. He was evacuated to the Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem for treatment.
Initial details revealed that the victim had been standing at the Pharmacy District checkpoint near the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Clashes erupted in the area and a bullet fired from a distance, apparently by a sniper, struck the victim in his upper body.
Large IDF forces were combing the area for further evidence. Worshipers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs were being evacuated and the city was put under closure.
The area in which the incident occurred is generally closed off to Jewish traffic, but was specially opened this week due to the Sukkot holiday. Entry to the Tomb was only being granted to Jews during this period of the holiday.
The shooting occurred a day after 20-year-old IDF soldier Tomer Hazan was founded murdered in the West Bank city of Qalqilyah over the weekend. Hazan, a resident of Bat Yam in central Israel, was reported missing after failing to contact his family since Friday morning.
The IDF, Shin Bet and the police set up a joint taskforce in an attempt to find him. An investigation later revealed that Nadal Amar, a resident of Qalqilyah who worked at a Bat Yam restaurant with Hazan, allegedly lured the victim to the West Bank and murdered him.
Amar, who was arrested by security forces on Saturday, admitted that he led Hazan to a well north of the Palestinian town Sanriya, near Qalqilyah, where he killed him and hid his body. A few hours ago, Amar led the Israeli security forces to the seven meter deep well, where the body was hidden.
In his Shin Bet interrogation, Amar admitted he lured Hazan to the West Bank. It is still unclear why Hazan agreed.