JERUSALEM (JTA) — Five Palestinian teens involved in a rock-throwing attack on a car in the West Bank that critically injured a 3-year-old Jewish girl were arrested.
The teens, aged 16 and 17 from the town of Kifl Haris near Kalkilya, were arrested Sunday in a joint operation of the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police.
In the March 14 attack, a car driven by a woman carrying her three young daughters swerved after being hit by rocks thrown by the teens and struck a truck. The driver’s 3-year-old daughter, Adele Biton, remains hospitalized in serious condition. The mother and her other daughters were moderately injured.
A bus passing at the same time also was hit with rocks, injuring the driver and two passengers.
The IDF said in a statement announcing the arrests that in recent months "there has been an increase in acts of popular terrorism and rock-hurling incidents. The severe results of this incident reiterate the serious threat posed by seemingly innocuous activities."
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