Hadassah Medical Center. Photo: Wikipedia

As violence escalated over the weekend in the West Bank, one Israeli doctor took it upon himself to enter the territory to save the life of a badly wounded Palestinian man.

According to Israeli media, an Israeli doctor entered Nablus without an army escort in order to save the life of a young Palestinian Arab man who had been badly injured in a clash with Israeli soldiers.

The doctor in question, Dr. Micah Shamir, a senior physician at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, told the Israel daily Ma’ariv about the experience: “It was clear we needed to save this young man. But entering Shechem (Nablus) was not pleasant, and there were moments of real fear.”

Dr. Shamir and his colleagues were made aware of the young man’s condition when Palestinian doctors at a Nablus hospital unequipped to save his life reached out for help. “I didn’t think twice,” said Dr. Shamir, who noted that, though the rescue operation was sanctioned by the mayor of Nablus,  there were still risks involved. “It was extremely dangerous,” Dr. Shamir recalled.

Ultimately, the mission was a success, and the young Palestinian man was secreted out of Nablus and transferred to a hospital in Jerusalem where he is recovering.