Monitoring Desk
ERUSALEM: Two Israeli nationals were shot dead in the West Bank on Sunday, local settler leader Yossi Dagan said.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces said that a “terrorist arrived at the Einbus junction and opened fire on an Israeli vehicle.”
The IDF said two Israelis were injured and taken to a hospital, adding that it was pursuing the attacker.
The settler leader Dagan and Magen David Adom medical agency later said both had died.
Another local settler leader said the shooting took place right behind him as he was present at the time of the attack. “It looked terrible – the shooting was from point-blank range,” said Shai Alon. He said that Israel needed to “go to war against those who wish us harm.”
Tense situation in the West Bank
The incident occurred in Huwara, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank area, days after massive Israeli forces raid into Nablus in search of militants left at least 11 Palestinians dead.
Lion’s Den, a Palestinian militant group, claimed six of Wednesday’s dead as members and vowed to take revenge.
After Sunday’s attack, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Dagan, called for Israel to withdraw from the ongoing security talks between the Palestinians and Israel brokered by the United States, Jordan, and Egypt.
The Palestinian Authority and Israel confirmed earlier Sunday that they were in talks in Jordan on the heels of one of the most violent starts to the year. The United States and Egypt are participating along with the Jordanian hosts.
