Magen David Adom treated 3,322 people over Yom Kippur; three died in road crashes

Israel's national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, said its paramedics and emergency medical technicians treated 3,322 people across the country during Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. In a summary of the fast day issued by the organisation's spokesperson's unit, Magen David Adom said 2,268 of those patients were evacuated to hospitals for further treatment.

Separately, Ynet reported that three people were killed in road accidents during the fast, in incidents in the Galilee, east of Jerusalem and in the north. The news site also reported that a body was found in the city of Umm al-Fahm and that police had opened an investigation.

What Magen David Adom counted

The service broke its caseload down by cause. It said 368 people fainted, became dehydrated or felt unwell as a result of fasting. Another 299 people were hurt and needed medical treatment after falling or crashing while riding bicycles, roller skates, scooters or skateboards; of those, the service said 9 were in moderate condition and 290 were lightly hurt.

Magen David Adom also said 40 people were injured in incidents of violence around the country. The portion of its statement circulated publicly breaks off mid-sentence at that point, and the material available does not carry any further breakdown of those cases.

Why cycling injuries spike on this one day

The high number of riding injuries is a feature of Yom Kippur in Israel rather than an anomaly. On the Day of Atonement, observant Jews abstain from food and drink for roughly a full day, and in Israel the country effectively shuts down: shops close, broadcasting goes off air, the airport halts flights and, by long-standing custom rather than by law, motor traffic all but disappears from the roads.

The empty asphalt has become an unofficial national playground. Children and teenagers take to major highways and urban arteries on bicycles, scooters and skateboards, often without helmets and with no organised traffic management, which is why emergency services publish a separate tally for this category each year. Magen David Adom's figures for the day place these injuries second only to fast-related cases among the causes it listed.

The fatal crashes

Ynet identified one of those killed as Bashar Khatib, who died when a truck overturned in Bu'eine Nujeidat, a Bedouin and Arab local council in the Lower Galilee in northern Israel. The report said further fatal accidents occurred near Anatot, east of Jerusalem, and in Shefar'am, an Arab city in the Galilee.

Because motor traffic is so light on Yom Kippur, road accidents on the day are comparatively rare, which is part of why they are reported individually. The available material does not describe the circumstances of the crashes near Anatot and in Shefar'am, and does not say whether any of the vehicles involved were connected to emergency or essential services.

The body found in Umm al-Fahm

Umm al-Fahm is one of the largest Arab cities in Israel, situated in the north of the country. Ynet reported that a body was found there and described the person as a "shabach", a Hebrew acronym used by Israeli police and security bodies for a Palestinian present in Israel without a permit. Police opened an investigation, according to the report. No cause of death, identity or further detail appears in the material.

How the reports line up

The three organisations reporting the day's activity are consistent on the headline figure. The Jerusalem Post also reported the total of 3,322 people treated, together with the three deaths, and described the caseload as including hundreds who fainted, became dehydrated or were injured on bicycles and scooters.

The Magen David Adom summary itself does not mention the road deaths in the portion available; the fatalities are reported by Ynet and the Jerusalem Post. There is no contradiction between the accounts, but the attribution differs: the treatment and injury breakdown comes from the emergency service, while the details of who died and where come from the news reports.

What the reports do not say

Several things remain unstated in the material. Magen David Adom's published summary cuts off during its account of violent incidents, so there is no information on how serious those 40 injuries were, where they occurred, or whether any arrests followed. The service also does not say how many of the patients it treated were children, nor how its totals compare with previous years.

On the fatal crashes, the reports give locations but not the circumstances, the number of other people hurt, or whether police are investigating any of them beyond the standard procedure. In Umm al-Fahm, the cause of death and the identity of the person found have not been released. None of the reports indicate when the police investigation there is expected to produce findings.