Israeli woman killed in West Bank attack near Hebron

Tel Aviv, Aug 21, (dpa/GNA) – An Israeli woman was killed in an attack near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, emergency services said.

The 40-year-old woman died from severe injuries, after shots were fired at a car, the Zaka rescue service reported on Monday. Another man was seriously injured in the incident in the occupied Palestinian territory.

According to media reports, the woman’s 6-year-old daughter in the car survived the attack unharmed.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said soldiers are pursuing suspects, and blockades have been set up in the area.

The Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said after the incident that the resistance had “struck again”, and justified the attack, citing Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank – without directly claiming responsibility for the attack.

The security situation in Israel and the West Bank has been tense for a long time.

Since the start of the year, 26 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, were killed in attacks by Palestinians.

During the same period, some 180 Palestinians have died in Israeli military operations or during their own attacks.

The majority of casualties are armed combatants, but innocent civilians are also often killed during the violence.

There have also been incidents of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, or Israeli activists.

Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live in these areas today.

Palestinians claim these territories for an independent state of Palestine, with the Arab-influenced eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital.

GNA