In the latest suspected Palestinian terrorist attack, two Israelis were killed and a third was wounded in West Bank on Friday.
Two women in the 20s were killed and a 45-year-old woman was wounded in a car in the shooting attack. The Times of Israel reported that the deceased were sisters and the wounded is their mother who was critically wounded in the attack.
The suspected Palestinian attack is the latest in the series of deadly incidents that has killed several Israelis in recent months. It also comes at a time when Israel has faced dual bombardment from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Lebanon in the past one day. In Israel, unrest has erupted in Jerusalem where clashes have taken place between Israeli personnel and Palestinians at Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
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At least one Palestinian driving in the Jordan Valley allegedly opened fire on a car of three women, killing two of them, the Israeli military said.
Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from their smashed car that appeared to have been pushed off the road.
The Israeli military said it was searching for those behind the attack, setting up roadblocks in the area. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility, but Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem hailed the attack "in retaliation for the crimes committed by Israel in the Al-Aqsa mosque and the West Bank".
Hamas is the principal Palestinian terrorist group that controls Gaza Strip and is committed to the destruction of Israel.
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"The group’s ideology blends Islamism and Palestinian nationalism and seeks the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River...Hamas’s preferred methods include suicide bombings, rocket and mortar attacks, shootings, and kidnappings," says think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) about Hamas.
The CEP adds that Hamas also receives financial and military support from Iran and Qatar has also provided significant funding for the group.
Israel and the region at large is on the edge over the evolving situation. After dozens of rockets were fired on Israel on Thursday and early hours of Friday, Israel struck inside Lebanon and Gaza. Israeli media reported that the rocket barrage from Lebanon was the largest since 2006 Israel-Lebanon War.
At least 34 rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon on Thursday and 44 were fired overnight from Gaza, reported The Times of Israel on Friday.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media, said that Egyptian security officials were working with Hamas and Israel to de-escalate the situation.
The past year has been the deadliest in decades in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dozens of Israelis have died in a string of Palestinian attacks and Palestinian casualties have also mounted in near-daily Israeli raids inside Palestinian territories.
(With AP inputs)
