Drive-by shooting injures Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank

Three Israeli settlers have been injured in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank. (Photo/Reuters)

Three Israeli settlers have been injured in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank, according to the military.

In a statement, the Israeli army said on Sunday the settlers’ car came under fire from a Palestinian vehicle close to the Tekoa Israeli military post, near Bethlehem city.

One Israeli was in serious condition, while the other two were lightly injured in the attack, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

The Israeli army launched a manhunt for the attackers.

Military raid on Bethlehem

Shortly after the attack, the Israeli army staged a military raid into the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

A military statement said Israeli forces detained two suspects and seized an M-16 rifle and the car used in the shooting attack.

For its part, the Palestinian Health Ministry said four Palestinians were injured by Israeli army fire and one by a gas canister during the raid in Bethlehem.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics treated 35 Palestinians who suffered temporary asphyxiation from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces along with two people who were shot by rubber-coated bullets.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli military raids into occupied Palestinian territory.

Just last week, on Monday July 3, Israel conducted the largest military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades.

The United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, condemned the raid on Jenin, saying that the raid was a “major intensification of the use of weaponry more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities, rather than a law enforcement situation”.

The raid employed hundreds of Israeli troops as well as drone strikes and army bulldozers that ripped up streets, damaging 80 percent of homes in the occupied territory.

Twelve Palestinians were killed as a result of the violence and over 100 were injured.

Nearly 195 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, according to the Health Ministry. At least 27 Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.

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Source: TRT