Two Israeli soldiers shot dead at West Bank bus stop
TWO Israeli soldiers have been killed in a gun attack near a West Bank settlement.
The Israeli military said a Palestinian gunman got out of a car and opened fire at a bus stop before speeding away.
Two other people were injured, including another soldier who was critically wounded.
The deaths extend a violent week that began with a shooting outside a West Bank settlement on Sunday, resulting in the death of a baby who was delivered prematurely. While the West Bank experiences occasional deadly violence, often between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters, much of the Israeli-palestinian violence in recent months has been limited to the Gaza Strip, where 175 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in border protests.
“In recent days, we definitely feel like the situation (in the West Bank) is getting worse,” said Shalom Galil, a paramedic who assisted at the scene of the shooting.
Following the attack, Israel set up checkpoints at the entrances to the West Bank city of Ramallah, searching cars entering the city and checking drivers’ IDS. Some Israelicontrolled roads were completely blocked to Palestinian traffic.
The clampdown on the city, the Palestinians’ economic and administrative centre, was an unusual step that signalled the severity with which Israel viewed the violent flare-up.
Walid Whadan, spokesman of the Palestinian civil affairs ministry, said Israel had not taken such measures in Ramallah since the second Palestinian uprising that ended more than a decade ago.
Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the gunman fled toward Ramallah and that the measures were also meant to prevent additional attacks.
He said the army was bolstering its forces in the West Bank with a focus on securing roads and launching a “massive manhunt” for the Palestinian gunman.
Mr Conricus declined to comment on whether there was a connection between yestersday’s shooting and the attack earlier this week, but he said the army was “investigating such theories,” and responding to the current “environment of incitement” in the West Bank.
“Israel’s long arm will reach anyone who harms Israeli citizens,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the latest round of violence, criticising both militant attacks and the tough Israeli response.
He said: “This atmosphere created by the frequent Israeli raids and the incitement against the president and the absence of the peace hopes, lead to this series of violence that both people are paying the price for.”