A report was received regarding a shooting towards a bus on Route 90 in the Jordan Valley, the IDF announced on Thursday morning.
After initial reports, Magen David Adom released the following report: "At 07:04, a report was received at MDA's 101 hotline in the Gilboa area about a shooting at two vehicles on Road 90 near Al-Auja. MDA medics and paramedics provided medical treatment to three injured: a 30-year-old man in moderate to serious condition with gunshot wounds to his limbs, a 21-year-old man in mild condition with a gunshot wound to his limbs and a 13-year-old boy in mild condition with from glass shrapnel wounds to the face. They referred the injured to Hadassah Hospital in Mount Scopus."
The IDF later added that a terrorist shot in the direction of multiple vehicles near Al-Auja in the Jordan Valley division. It also announced that soldiers in the area arrived at the scene and began pursuing the terrorist.
Uriel Reins and Keren Gazit, members of Rescue Without Borders MDA's emergency response team for the Jordan Valley region, arrived at the scene and reported that medics were giving first aid in two locations, one near the entrance of the town of Naomi.
Rescue Without Borders also reported that two armored bullet-proof buses carrying students were hit, but no one inside was injured.
Later, emergency MDA medic Lital Kruwani arrived at the scene and gave her account of what happened.
"We were rushed to the entrance to Kibbutz Na'aran. We saw a vehicle with two men who were injured. According to them, when they passed near Al-Auja, they were shot at, and they continued driving until the entrance to Kibbutz Na'aran," she said.
"One wounded man, a man about 30 years old, was fully conscious with gunshot wounds to his lower limbs and a second man, 21 years old, with a gunshot wound On foot. We gave them life-saving medical treatment and evacuated them to the hospital. The 30-year-old man's condition is moderate. MDA medics and paramedics provide medical treatment and refer him to the hospital for serious and minor injuries," Kruwani added.
Reactions to the attack
Likud Mk Dan Illouz responded to the attack on a post on X, saying, "Terror must be defeated in all arenas while defeating the enemy and deepening our roots in the land of our ancestors. Now is the precise time to apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, an area whose importance is not disputed in Israeli society. This will be a victory picture that will be remembered for generations."
את הטרור צריך לנצח בכל הזירות, תוך הכרעת האויב והעמקת השורשים שלנו בארץ אבותינו. דווקא עכשיו, זה הזמן להחיל ריבונות על בקעת הירדן, איזור שאין חולק בחברה הישראלית על חשיבותו. זו תהיה תמונת ניצחון שתיזכר לדורות. pic.twitter.com/OVAoli32g5
— דן אילוז - Dan Illouz (@dillouz) March 28, 2024
The Bus Drivers' organization from the National Histadrut, which unites the majority of drivers in Israel, issued a statement following the shooting incident, which damaged multiple buses: "This is not the first time that buses and bus drivers have been attacked by gunfire. Buses are a symbol of government, and for this reason, they are repeatedly attacked. This is an ongoing terror against the drivers and passengers. The time has come to promote bus security immediately so that every bus will have a security guard as it was in the past. The blood of the drivers and passengers must not be wasted."