A terrorist opened fire Sunday afternoon at an Israeli vehicle, injuring David Stern, a 41-year-old United States Marine veteran who was traveling with his wife who, herself suffered a panic attack and was taken with him to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. Stern, who was wounded in the head, was armed and returned fire, hitting the terrorist. Later the hospital reported that his condition was moderate and stable, even though he was hit in the head, adding that "it was a miracle."
The terrorist, Lait Nassar, tried to escape on foot, but after a short chase, he was caught alive in one of the buildings in Huwara and was arrested as his condition was described as injured yet stable. A force from the reserve battalion 9213, together with standard Nahal and Golani forces who searched the area of the attack, entered the courtyard of a building where they identified the terrorist with blood on his face and hands and neutralized him while he was still armed and pointing a gun towards the troops.
Once a Marine, always a Marine.
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) March 19, 2023
David Stern, an Israeli-American citizen and a former Marine, was wounded by a Palestinian terrorist who fired 20 bullets at him as David was driving in Samaria through Huwara with his wife and 3 children in the back of the car.
David, who was… https://t.co/5UJzGAuvV6 pic.twitter.com/GfkU7ZtJkb
After he was captured and wounded, the fighters confiscated the weapon used by the terrorist to carry out the attack and he was handed over for further investigation by the security forces. The shooting at the Israeli couple was carried out from point-blank range, and the terrorist used an improvised ghost weapon known as a “Carlo weapon” in Israel, which was found at the scene. About 20 bullets were fired at and from the vehicle, and in the documentation from the scene you can see the windshield of the vehicle is completely punctured with bullet holes.
This time too, similar to the last attack in Hauwara where two Israeli brothers were shot dead from point-blank range, the attack took place while a summit was happening between Palestinian Authority personnel and Israeli officials, as part of efforts to defuse tensions ahead of Ramadan.
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— Adam Albilya - אדם אלביליה (@AdamAlbilya) March 19, 2023
Moments after he was shot in the head and upper body, David Stern walked on his own, with the bandage he had put on himself, from the car to the ambulance.
My man is a damn tiger.
A Jewish f tiger!🙏🏽❤️ pic.twitter.com/OvKBua3jU6
The head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar and the head of the National Security Staff Tzachi Hanegbi arrived Sunday in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt for the summit, the second meeting of the "Aqaba Forum", which convened last month. The political summit is also attended by delegations from Jordan, Egypt, and the USA.
Due to the prospect of demonstrations by local Israeli settlers, and to avoid rioting like seen a few weeks ago in Huwara, Israeli security has been patrolling the village and preventing further violence from either side.
An American Israeli civilian was just shot in the head by terrorists while driving through Huwarra. People in Nablus are already celebrating. Facial recognition should be used to ensure these people are never allowed to enter or work in Israel. pic.twitter.com/d6NCpIbqYQ
— Avi Kaner ابراهيم אבי (@AviKaner) March 19, 2023
Hazem Qassem, the spokesman for Hamas, referred to yesterday’s attack in Huwara while trying to justify random acts of violence against civilians by framing it as a justified response to Israel defending itself against Palestinian militant organizations. "This is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation against our Palestinian people, the latest of which is the massacre in Jenin," he said referring to the recent firefight where several militants were killed by Israeli security forces, "the resistance continues and escalates in the West Bank (Judea & Samaria), and it will not stop until our people achieve their independence."
