(JTA) — An Israeli security officer shot a Jordanian man who, after crossing illegally into Israel, threw rocks at a vehicle that he then tried to steal.
The incident Friday on Route 90 in northern Israel left the Jordanian man in moderate condition, Army Radio reported. A security guard from a nearby kibbutz shot the man while he was trying to force his way into a vehicle driven by an Israeli woman.
The head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, Idan Greenbaum, described the incident as a “severe” security breach. “We are concerned that a Jordanian citizen can cross the border and wonder around the Jordan Valley,” he said.
Terrorist attacks on Israelis last month remained relatively low in volume but resulted in the highest number of fatalities since January.
Five people died as victims of such terrorist attacks in June, the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, wrote in its monthly report, published earlier this week. In total, 103 such attacks were documented, compared to 101 in May — the lowest figure on record since March 2015.
The fatalities were the result of two attacks – a shooting in Tel Aviv’s Sarona compound and the murder of a 13-year-old girl in her home near Hebron.
The attacks last month resulted in 21 injuries to victims, including one serious injury.
The report for June also listed an attack attributed to Jewish terrorists, in which two cars were set on fire near the predominantly-Arab city of Nazareth ibn the Galilee and three others were spray-painted with hate speech, including: “We will murder you.”
Attacks along Israel’s fence with Gaza saw a sharp decline from 16 in May to a single attack last month. Of 103 the attacks documented in June, 86 involved firebombs, 10 featured an explosive charge and two were shooting attacks.
In Israel and the West Bank, attacks began increasing in August, when 171 of them were documented, and rose sharply in September and October, with 223 and 620 attacks recorded in those months respectively. But the overall number of attacks decreased to 326 in November, 246 in December, 169 in January, 155 in February and 123 in March.
More than 200 Palestinians have died during these months of unrest, mostly while perpetrating the attacks or at riots.
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