IDF soldier who lost a leg in ramming attack released from hospital
Sgt. Shadi Ibrahim was struck two weeks ago in the south Hebron Hills; Two Palestinians shot by IDF in West Bank
Shadi Ibrahim, the 21-year-old IDF soldier who lost his leg after a car ramming attack in the south Hebron hill in the West Bank in early May, was released from Soroka Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit after recovering in the hospital.
Ibrahim, who grew up in Sajur, a Druze village in northern Israel, recorded a video message from his hospital bed in Beersheba, letting everyone know that he was “all right” and thanking everyone for their support and well wishes.
“I came out of intensive care, now everything’s fine with me. I’m all right,” Ibrahim said after spending two weeks in the hospital.
On May 14, Ibrahim was seriously injured after a Palestinian drove into him at high speed near the West Bank settlement of Negohot near Hebron.
According to the IDF, the driver accelerated towards troops standing next to a military observation post outside the settlement in the Har Hebron Regional Council.
The 21-year-old soldier, who was treated in the field by Magen David Adom paramedics, was then evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba with injuries to his upper body, in moderate-serious condition. He was said to be stable and conscious at the time. Soroka’s spokesperson reported late Thursday that the soldier had undergone surgery and was suffering multisystem trauma, which eventually led to the amputation of his leg.
“I feel good. I know I lost my leg. I want to return to my soldiers. Nothing
will break me,” Ibrahim said after waking up from surgery, according to Ynet.
The soldier, who serves in the IDF Armored Corps unit, was visited by the head of the South Command Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevy on Sunday.
The terrorist was shot and critically injured by troops who returned fire. He later succumbed to his wounds. According to Ynet, the 19-year-old Palestinian was from the Hebron area and left a suicide note in his pocket.
The attack came days after 21-yearold Sgt.-Maj. Amit Ben Yigal was killed during an arrest raid in the Palestinian village of Yabed when a large rock was thrown at his head. The next morning, a 15-year-old Palestinian, Zaid Fadl al-Qaysieh, was shot dead during clashes with IDF troops in the al-Fawar refugee camp.
Also on Monday, two Palestinians were shot by IDF forces after allegedly attempting to stab troops.
According to the military, the suspects tried to stab the soldiers posted outside the Havat Amichai outpost near the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, but according to local reports the two herders had been attacked by settlers accompanied by IDF troops while they were in their fields with relatives.
According to Palestinian WAFA news agency, the two men were brought to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah after being injured, one in the stomach and the other in the leg. They were not arrested by IDF troops, who according to WAFA teargassed locals who came to their aid.
No IDF soldiers were injured in the incident.
While there was a decrease in violence during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the IDF is starting to see an uptick in violent incidents, as tensions continue to rise with Israel plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
On Memorial Day, a 20-year-old Palestinian stabbed an elderly woman in the central city of Kfar Saba. A Palestinian is suspected of attempting to carry out a vehicular ramming attack a month earlier, after he accelerated his car into the Reihan checkpoint near the West Bank city of Jenin.
A week earlier, a border police officer was moderately wounded in combined vehicular ramming and stabbing attack at a checkpoint at the Kiosk checkpoint in Abu Dis. The attacker was caught on camera ramming his truck into the officer before exiting the vehicle armed with scissors and stabbing him. The attacker was shot and killed.
In early May a Palestinian was shot after he jumped out of a truck at the Qalandiya crossing and attempted to stab a security officer. There were no injuries to Israeli security forces and the suspect was transferred to hospital for medical treatment.
Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared that the PA is “absolved” of all security agreements and understandings between Israel and the PLO, in addition to agreements with the US, according to WAFA. Abbas also placed responsibility for the West Bank on Israel as an “occupying power.”
Threats and statements similar to these have been repeated multiple times by Palestinian officials, including Abbas, in reference to annexation and the Trump administration’s “Deal of the Century.”