Five wounded in West Bank shooting, attacker killed: Israel army, medics
Israeli first responders gather outside the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem following the attack in Hebron
Jerusalem – A gun attack in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron wounded five people on Saturday, including four Israelis and a Palestinian, with the assailant shot dead, Israel’s emergency services and the army said.
Extreme-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Religious Zionism alliance is eyeing major gains in elections on Tuesday, claimed on Twitter that his Hebron home was the target.
Israel’s security forces have not confirmed the allegation and Israeli media, citing security sources, have reported Ben-Gvir’s home in a Hebron settlement was not targeted.
The shooting comes just days before Israel holds its fifth election in less than four years and with violence surging in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency response service reported five wounded.
A 50-year-old Israeli man was “unconscious with an injury to his upper body”, the MDA said, with others suffering less severe wounds.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Palestinian victim was being treated at a Hebron area hospital.
Israel’s army said an attacker “shot live fire” near a checkpoint in Hebron, a West Bank city which is also home to a community of hardline Jewish settlers.
An army spokesperson told AFP that an Israeli security guard shot the attacker dead at the scene.
“Soldiers are conducting searches in the area” for additional suspects, the army said.
– ‘Downward spiral’ –
The United Nations envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Wennesland, warned on Friday that the West Bank was “caught in a downward spiral” of bloodshed. This year is on track to be the deadliest in the territory in more than a decade.
More than 100 Palestinians, including fighters and attackers, have been killed across the West Bank as Israel has conducted near daily raids targeting alleged militants.
The raids were launched following a spate of deadly attacks targeting Israelis that began in March.
Israeli operations have primarily been concentrated in the northern West Bank, while Hebron in the south has seen less unrest.
However, Hebron has been rocked by waves of violence through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it hosts a disputed holy site, known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi mosque and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, which is revered by both faiths.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted on Saturday that he was “praying” for those injured in Kiryat Arba, the Hebron community home to a group predominately right-wing, religious settlers.
“Terrorism will not defeat us,” said Lapid, who is currently serving as caretaker premier but is hoping to secure an independent mandate in Tuesday’s vote.
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who typically polls well among West Bank settlers, is eyeing a return to power after 18 months in opposition.