Israeli medical teams ready to respond to lone wolf terrorism. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
Two Israelis—including a 60-year-old woman—were killed in a terror attack shooting that included a vehicle assault, left over a half dozen others wounded and took place roughly half a mile (850 meters) from the Police headquarters in Jerusalem. Two women were wounded when the attacker’s vehicle hit their car , according to a press release from the Israeli paramedic service Magen David Adom (MDA).
The wounded also include a 50-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man who were moderately wounded in the shooting attack, which took place near a light rail stop. Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said via Twitter that the terrorist was eliminated by Israeli security forces. Rosenfeld also confirmed that one of the dead was Israeli Police officer Yosef Kirma. The timing of the attack—during the three-week High Holy Day season in which large numbers of visitors come to Israel’s capital city—intensifies the situation, but MDA said they’re prepared in case tragedy strikes.
“Amid the Jewish holidays taking place this month, and over the past year, Magen David Adom has had to become highly alert due to the rise in ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks,” Magen David Adom Director General Eli Bin said in the press release. “…We are working in full cooperation with all Israeli security forces, and we continue to be alert and prepared to provide effective medical services when necessary. I wish those wounded in the attack a rapid recovery.”
Bin said that “despite of the complexity of the shooting attack” on Sunday, the paramedics were able to provide treatment and evacuation to hospitals “within minutes.”
On the security side, Rosenfeld tweeted that police units would “continue security measures to prevent further attacks.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the police response to the attack in his comments the morning of the attack, which were later published by his office. “I would like to send wishes for a recovery to the wounded, and to say, as it appears from the reports that we are receiving, that there was very quick and determined action here by Israel Police personnel who pursued the terrorist and eliminated him.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, October 9, 2016)