Hebron’s central square was placed under curfew today as security forces searched for an unidentified gunman who shot an Israeli shopper near a fruit stand. The victim, Moshe Atiya, 65, of Ganei Tikva, was reported in good condition at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem after a bullet was removed from his left thigh.
Atiya and his wife left their home near Petach Tikva this morning, on a visit to holy places. They visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem and then travelled to Hebron to visit the Tomb of the Patriarchs. At about noon, on their way to the bus station, they stopped to buy fruit in the central square.
Atiya told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a hospital bedside interview this evening that he heard a gun go off but didn’t know he had been shot until he discovered he was bleeding. He said none of the Arab vendors offered to help him. He said that with the aid of his wife, he dragged himself to a nearby army post from where he was driven to the hospital in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile security forces have arrested dozens of Arabs for questioning but have not yet found the gunman.
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