Staff Sergeant Eshto Tespo (L) and Staff Sergeant Bar Yakubian (R). Photo: courtesy of IDF Spokesperson’s Office.

JNS.org – Two IDF soldiers were killed and ten others injured in a major traffic accident on Highway 6, east of the coastal city of Netanya on Tuesday evening.

The accident occurred at an interchange east of Netanya and west of the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Tulkarem. Highway 6 is Israel’s primary north-south artery. Sergeant Bar Yakubian, 19, and Sergeant Eshto Tespo, 21, both of the Golani combat unit, were killed when a truck collided with several private cars containing Israeli soldiers that were parked on the shoulder of the highway.

The truck was driven by an Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem.

Among the 10 additional soldiers who were injured, one remains in serious condition, one moderate, and 8 lightly. They were treated by Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah emergency first responders. Fire and Rescue personnel arrived to free several people from trapped cars that were crushed by the truck.

The IDF’s Northern Command has established a unit that will coordinate with Israeli civil and military police to investigate the cause of the incident, including whether the collision was an act of terror.