A 26-year-old recent immigrant from the United States was seriously injured by a booby-trapped Israeli flag Sunday near his home in the West Bank settlement of Har Bracha.
The victim, Simcha Walker, was taken by ambulance to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva, where he underwent emergency surgery.
He was wounded in the wrist and stomach, and he lost a considerable amount of blood. Doctors worked three hours to try to save his nearly severed hand.
Walker noticed the Israeli flag on a roadside. It was defaced with a swastika and fastened to a large stone.
When he tried to pry the flag loose to take it to the settlement security officer, a pipe bomb filled with nails and metal fragments exploded.
Walker has a daughter and a wife, who is expecting their second child shortly.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
