Two Soldiers Injured in Second Jeep Rollover Incident in Two Days

A day after an IDF soldier was killed when the jeep he was riding in rolled over along the Gaza border, a second jeep rollover injured two soldiers overnight Sunday. The second incident occurred near the Tarkumiya checkpoint on Road 35, west of Chevron. Witnesses said that the jeep rolled over when the driver lost control, as he tried to avoid a vehicle that was driving directly at them. The two soldiers were lightly to moderately injured in the incident.

The witnesses said that the vehicle was driven by an Arab. Security forces were searching for the vehicle and its driver, and are investigating whether the incident should be considered a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Yuval Mena, a fighter in a paratroop unit, was laid to rest Sunday night, after the jeep he was driving in rolled over Motzoei Shabbos. Three other soldiers were injured in the incident. Two were in serious condition Sunday morning, while a third was being treated for light wounds. The jeep that the four were patrolling the border in rolled over as it passed the area near the Kissufim crossing on the southern Gaza border. The driver of the vehicle was pinned under the heavy frame of the jeep and likely was killed immediately, officials said. The other three soldiers were rushed to a hospital in Be’er Sheva with varying injuries.

IDF officials have opened an investigation into the incident. Officials said that their initial investigation had determined that the vehicle may have been driving too fast for the road conditions, and that it rolled over several times. The jeep was on a routine patrol along with two other vehicles, the last in the three-vehicle convoy, with the other two vehicles passing the site of the mishap without incident, they said.