A Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into a bus stop at the Karkur Junction outside the city of Pardes Hanna, wounding thirteen people. 

A 17-year-old girl arrived at Hillel Yaffe Hospital in nearby Hadera in critical condition. A 60-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were in serious condition, also with head injuries, medics said. An 18-year-old woman was moderately injured, while six others sustained light injuries, MDA added.

On Thursday evening, an MDA helicopter transported two seriously wounded people from the Hillel Yaffe Hospital to Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, including the teenage girl – who reportedly has head and limb injuries and is sedated and on a ventilator – and a 76-year-old man with a head injury who is sedated and on a ventilator. 

A security camera video showed that the terrorist’s car accelerated and swerved directly at the bus stop. 

In separate footage taken immediately after the attack, at least six people could be seen lying immobile on a grassy embankment next to the bus stop.

Police told reporters that the terrorist, a resident of Samaria, crashed into a patrol vehicle, got out of his car with a screwdriver and tried to stab police officers, who then shot and killed him.

The Palestinian terrorist was identified as a 53-year-old Arab living illegally in Ma’ale Iron outside of Haifa with his Arab-Israeli wife. Haaretz reported that the terrorist was indicted in 2021 for driving without a license.

The attack comes one week after a wave of bombs were discovered on buses in Bat Yam. While three buses exploded, miraculously, no one was hurt. 

Security forces are on heightened alert as the month of Ramadan begins on Friday. The month of Ramadan is the most significant in the Islamic calendar. Muslims observe “Laylat al-Qadr” marking the end of the revelation of the Quran. As such, the entire month is a period of intensified religious observance. Muslims seek closeness to Allah, engage in repentance, and abstain from worldly pleasures during daylight hours, focusing on acts of kindness, visiting relatives, and repairing interpersonal relationships. During Ramadan, Muslims strive to get closer to Allah through extended prayers.

While Muslim religious leaders speak of “the month of forgiveness, repentance, and atonement,” in the Palestinian streets, Ramadan has turned into a month of violence and terror. Ramadan in Israel has become a month of terror and bloodshed, increasingly associated with religious and nationalist violence.