An Israeli man was tragically killed and 13 others were wounded in an attack by three Palestinian gunmen near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. The incident occurred when the attackers opened fire on vehicles waiting at a checkpoint on a highway outside Maale Adumim. Security forces and armed civilians swiftly responded, killing two of the attackers and apprehending the third. While Palestinian armed group Hamas praised the attack, they did not claim responsibility for it.
This attack comes amidst a surge in violence in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered by Hamas’s deadly attacks in Israel on October 7th. According to the UN, as of Tuesday, at least 394 Palestinians, including members of armed groups, attackers, and civilians, had been killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank and Israel. In the same period, 12 Israelis, including four security forces personnel, lost their lives.
The Israeli police force reported that the attack took place near the al-Zaim checkpoint on Highway 1, connecting Maale Adumim with Jerusalem. The three Palestinian gunmen arrived at the scene in two separate vehicles, armed with weapons like an M-16 rifle and a Carlo sub-machine gun. Upon exiting their vehicles, they opened fire on the vehicles stuck in a traffic jam. While two of the attackers were shot dead by security forces and armed civilians, the third attempted to escape but was eventually apprehended.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service confirmed that casualties were found in five vehicles along a 500-meter stretch of the highway. Tragically, a 26-year-old man from Maale Adumim named Matan Elmaliach succumbed to his wounds at the scene. Among the wounded was a 23-year-old pregnant woman who sustained a gunshot wound to her upper body and is currently in serious condition. Eight individuals were taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, while five were transported to Shaare Zedek Hospital.
The attackers were identified as three Palestinian men, including two brothers, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, located approximately 10 kilometers southwest of the scene. In response to the attack, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, expressed that the enemies of Israel aim to harm them and emphasized the need to distribute more weapons to Israeli civilians for protection. He also advocated for the installation of additional roadblocks around Palestinian communities in the West Bank, asserting that the right to life takes precedence over the freedom of movement for Palestinians.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician, called for the immediate approval of plans for thousands more homes in settlements like Maale Adumim. Israel has constructed around 160 settlements housing approximately 700,000 Jews since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. While the majority of the international community considers these settlements illegal under international law, Israel and the US dispute this classification.
Hamas labeled Thursday’s attack as a “natural response” to what they perceive as Israeli “massacres and crimes” in Gaza and the West Bank. They called on Palestinians to take up arms in response. This incident occurred just six days after a Palestinian man shot and killed two individuals at a bus stop near the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi.
The ongoing violence in the West Bank underscores the deep-rooted tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. As both sides continue to grapple with the aftermath of the recent conflict in Gaza, it is crucial for efforts to be made towards de-escalation and finding a peaceful resolution to this enduring conflict.