Israelis wounded in shooting in the occupied West Bank
The attack comes as Israeli and Palestinian officials hold talks aimed at stemming the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli Ambulance and Rescue Service said a 30-year-old man was injured when the car he was traveling in came under fire in the occupied West Bank on Sunday.
The Israeli army said it had received a report of a “shooting incident”. Hawaraa town that was the focus of Israeli military raids and Settler agitation in recent weeks.
Israeli medics said a man was shot in the upper body and seriously wounded, while his wife sustained minor injuries.
The Israeli army said that a soldier or one of the wounded had opened fire on the Palestinian gunman, who was arrested by the Israeli forces.
The shooting came Israeli and Palestinian officials held talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh It seeks to restore calm after the deadly escalation of violence in the West Bank and ahead of a delicate holiday period that begins this week.
Last month, an armed Palestinian was killed Israeli settlers Driving through Hawara. This was followed by a rampage by Israeli settlers, who killed a Palestinian and set dozens of homes and cars on fire.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, also said that Hawara should be “erased”in the notes that were widely condemned.
The Israeli-occupied West Bank has seen a surge in confrontations in recent months, with near-daily military raids and escalating settler violence.
Israeli Settler violence The United Nations told Al Jazeera that the targeting of Palestinians has reached its highest level since 2006.
An average of three violent incidents per day were recorded per day in 2023, compared to two per day in 2022, and one per day in 2021.
Sunday’s meeting is the second attempt by the two sides, backed by regional allies Egypt and Jordan as well as the United States, to end the year-old outbreak of violence that has seen more than 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and more than 40 Israelis and three Ukrainians killed in Palestinian attacks.
Over the past year, Israeli forces have also arrested thousands of people in the West Bank.
The ongoing deadly military raids have raised questions about prospects for meetings between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which governs limited parts of the West Bank.
The previous meeting in Jordan ended late last month with an agreement to de-escalate tensions. Soon it was derailed by several new ones Bursts of violenceincluding an Israeli raid on Nablus that killed 11 Palestiniansmaking expectations for the second installment low.
Sunday’s shooting lowered those expectations. However, the mediators want to ease tensions before the holy month of Ramadan RamadanWhich is expected to start this week, which coincides next month with the Jewish holiday of Passover.
The Palestinian delegation will participate tomorrow in the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, with a regional and international presence. To defend our rights #Palestinian For freedom and independence, and to demand an end to this continuous #Israeli aggression against us. https://t.co/tZWvTiArHT
– Hussein Sheikh Hussein Sheikh (HusseinSheikhpl) March 18, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of the summit in his weekly cabinet meeting.
On Saturday, Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted that the meeting was aimed at “demanding an end to the ongoing Israeli aggression against us.”
