A terrorist attack that occurred on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 19 in Gush Etzion has claimed the lives of three men.
After shooting at a bus at Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, the terrorist continued driving and rammed his car into a group of Israelis at the nearby Alon Shvut Junction, killing three men and injuring at least five others.
One of the men killed was an 18-year-old yeshiva student, Ezra Schwartz, of Sharon, Mass.
A second man died after succumbing to his wounds at Jerusalems Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. He was named on Thursday evening by Israel Police as Ya’akov Dunn, a 51-year-old resident of Alon Shvut and father of four.
The third fatality was a Palestinian bystander, who was also killed in the car ramming.
Five people who were lightly injured in the attack were evacuated to Shaarei Tsedek hospital in Jerusalem, along with two shock victims.
Reports indicate that there were two terrorists carrying out the attack. One was neutralized, but was not hurt; the other fled the scene.
Earlier in the day, a terror stabbing left two people dead in southern Tel Aviv on Ben Tzvi Street, around 2 p.m. The attack took place in the synagogue of the Panorama building after traditional afternoon prayer services. It was reported that one of the murdered men was holding a Torah scroll.
Magen David Adom confirmed that one young man in his 20s and one man in his 50s were murdered in the stabbing attack. One of the victims was transferred to Ichilov Hospital, where he later died of his wounds. Two other wounded people were also taken to Ichilov.
Aharon Yesiab, a rabbi from Tel Aviv, was identified as one of those killed. He worked at the Panorama building and was stabbed when he exited a prayer service there. The second victim was later identified as Aviram Reuven, 51.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Israel Police foiled a potential terrorist attack against Jewish worshipers in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Shortly after 9 a.m., Israeli Border Patrolmen at a security checkpoint to one of the gates of the Cave of the Patriarchs apprehended a 16-year-old Palestinian resident of Hebron in possession of a knife.
Update: The yeshiva student killed in the Gush Etzion attack was originally reported to be a Birthright participant, which was incorrect.
Michael Bachner, Kobi Richter and Michael Zeff of Tazpit Press Service and JTA contributed to this report.
