Suspected Palestinian gunman kills an Israeli, wounds another in latest attack in occupied West Bank

(21 Aug 2023)

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4449848, 4449850

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Southern Hebron Hills, West Bank - 21 August 2023
1. Bullet holes on car
HEADLINE: Suspected Palestinian gunman kills Israeli woman
2. Various of car with bullet holes, officials inspecting it
ANNOTATION: A suspected Palestinian attacker has killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man in the occupied West Bank.
3. Israeli soldiers guarding the area
ANNOTATION: The Israeli army says it was an apparent drive-by shooting.
4. Various of damaged car near and on tow truck
ANNOTATION: The latest attack is part of a recent escalation of violence involving Palestinian militants, Israeli security forces and radical Jewish settlers.
5. Israeli soldiers closing off area
ANNOTATION: Nearly 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of this year.
ANNOTATION: Some 30 people have been killed by Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time.

STORYLINE:
A suspected Palestinian attacker killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man in the south of the occupied West Bank on Monday, Israeli authorities said, as violence continued to flare in the restive territory shortly after another shooting killed two Israelis.

The latest attack is part of a sharp escalation in the region in recent months involving Palestinian militants, Israeli security forces and radical Jewish settlers.

It took place as Israeli forces were already on high alert and searching for a gunman who had killed the two Israelis in the northern West Bank on Saturday.

The combustible mix of armed Palestinians carrying out shooting attacks against Israelis as well as near-nightly — and often deadly — raids by the Israeli army to arrest militants has fueled the worst fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank in nearly two decades.

Reprisals by fanatic Jewish settlers against Palestinians have also heightened tensions in the territory.

Israeli security forces said the suspected Palestinian gunman opened fire at an Israeli car on Route 60, the main north-south road in the West Bank, near the major city of Hebron.

The army said the apparent drive-by shooting killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man as the two were driving.

The Israeli rescue service reported the two victims were in their 40s and that a 6-year-old girl who was also in the car was unharmed.

The man, it said, was found semi-conscious and taken to the hospital.

A regional council representing settlements identified the woman killed as Batsheva Nigri, a mother of three and a kindergarten teacher, who resided in the Jewish settlement of Beit Hagai, near Hebron.

Images from the scene showed the victims’ shattered sedan riddled with over a dozen bullet holes.

The gunman fled, prompting Israeli security forces to embark on their second manhunt in three days.

The military shut down all entrances to the Palestinian city of Hebron along with other towns to the south and east.

The deadly shooting came just days after another Palestinian attack killed an Israeli father and son who were washing their car in the northern Palestinian town of Hawara, putting the West Bank on edge.

Nearly 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants.

But stone throwing youths protesting the incursions and those not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.