JERUSALEM — In a tragic turn of events in the West Bank, a man driving a car with Israeli license plates was fatally shot at a busy intersection on Sunday. This incident came soon after a violent confrontation in the same territory left seven Palestinians and a member of Israel’s paramilitary border police dead.
The victim, a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem, was targeted in a drive-by shooting, presumably mistaken for an Israeli due to his license plates. Palestinian militants have been responsible for numerous shooting attacks against Israelis in the West Bank over the years.
The Magen David Adom rescue service reported that the assailants fired through the victim’s front windshield. Upon arrival, paramedics found the man unresponsive in his car. Security forces were deployed to search for the shooter, locating an abandoned car likely used in the attack.
Earlier in the day, a deadly confrontation occurred when Israeli security forces were on patrol in Jenin, a town in the northern West Bank. A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle of the paramilitary border police, killing one officer and injuring three others. In response, an Israeli military helicopter targeted Palestinians throwing explosives at Israeli vehicles, resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians.
At a funeral for six of those killed in Jenin, four men were wrapped in the green flags of Hamas, while the other two were covered with the Palestinian flag and the yellow banner of the Fatah movement, a Hamas rival.
These latest events have occurred amid increased violence and restrictions on Palestinian residents across the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces have killed 330 Palestinians in the West Bank since Hamas’ cross-border attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The surge in deadly military raids and heightened violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers has further exacerbated tensions in the region.
In summary, a series of violent incidents in the West Bank has resulted in the deaths of an Israeli motorist and several Palestinians, further escalating the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in the region.