JERUSALEM –
The Israeli military said two Israelis were wounded Saturday night in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank, the latest month of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
This is the third attack in the Palestinian town of Huwara in less than a month. The condition of the two wounded Israelis is unknown. The army said a manhunt was launched as forces blocked roads leading to Huwara.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the gun attack, but Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, praised it.
“Resistance in the West Bank can surprise the occupying forces at any time and the occupying forces cannot be safe,” said Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas.
Violence has increased in recent months in the West Bank and East Jerusalem amid near-daily Israeli detention raids in Palestinian-controlled areas and a spate of attacks by Israeli forces. Palestinian.
US-backed regional efforts to defuse tensions led to meetings of Israeli and Palestinian officials in Jordan and Egypt respectively, where the sides hoped to prevent further escalation during the fasting month. Ramadan.
On February 27, when Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Jordan’s Aqaba, a Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israelis in Huwara. Another shooting attack in Huwara came as the sides met again in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, wounding two Israelis.
According to the Associated Press, 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler fire this year. Palestinian attacks killed 15 Israelis during the same period.
Israel said most of those killed were militants. But young men who threw stones against the incursions and those who did not take part in the confrontations were also killed.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek those territories for their future independent state.
