An Israeli woman was murdered, and a man seriously wounded in a drive-by terrorist shooting attack near the southern West Bank (biblical Judea and Samaria) city of Hebron.
Preschool teacher, Batsheva Nagari, a mother of three, and her six-year-old daughter had caught a ride with Aryeh Gottlieb another resident of the settlement community where she lived. Her daughter was unharmed but saw her mother killed.
According to press reports, the vehicle was struck by at least 20 rounds. Security forces later found a burned-up vehicle, which was thought to match the description of the terrorists’ car near Halhoul, which is about three miles from Hebron.
The Israel Defense Forces set up roadblocks and are still searching for the terrorists.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups praised the attack and said it was in response to expanding Jewish communities in the West Bank (biblical Judea and Samaria). They did not however claim responsibility.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was updated and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an operational briefing following the terror attack.
Gallant is receiving “ongoing operational updates” from his military secretary, “regarding the pursuit of the terrorists responsible for the attack.” He’s scheduled to hold a “situation assessment” at the site of the attack, his office said in a statement.
This is the second deadly shooting attack in just three days. A father and son were murdered on Saturday as they waited at a car wash in the northern West Bank (Samaria) city of Huwara, where numerous attacks have taken place this year.
Most of the recent attacks have occurred in the northern West Bank.
President Isaac Herzog tweeted that: “The murder of Batsheva Nagari in front of her small daughter in the horrific shooting attack at Mount Hebron is shocking and heartbreaking. These are difficult and painful days for Israel, in which our enemies are using various means to hurt us. They will not be able to.”