Three men opened fire in a highway traffic jam: an Israeli was killed and several people seriously injured in a terrorist attack in the West Bank. It is the second attack in a week.
Three attackers used automatic firearms to kill a 20-year-old man and wound at least eight others, some seriously, in the West Bank. According to the emergency services, several injured people are in critical condition, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman.
According to police, the terrorists drove to the site of the attack in a vehicle, got out and opened fire on cars that were stuck in a traffic jam on the road between the settler town of Maale Adumim and Jerusalem. Two of the perpetrators were shot on site. A third was killed while trying to escape. The AP news agency, however, reports that the third perpetrator was wounded and arrested.
Shin Bet: Palestinians from the Bethlehem area
According to the Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, the attackers were Palestinians from the Bethlehem area. Just on Friday, attackers shot two people dead in an attack on a bus station in Kiryat Malachi in southern Israel.
Several Israeli politicians called for consequences after the attack. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on Platform X: “Our enemies know that any damage done to us will lead to more construction, more development and more control over the entire country.” Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the scene and called for more checkpoints and restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as more weapons for Israeli civilians.
Since the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7th, violence in the West Bank has increased massively.