Head of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, (right) at the scene of a shooting attack in the West Bank town of Huwara. Source: the Israel Defense Forces.
On August 19, two Israelis were killed in a shooting attack that took place near the town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank.
According to a preliminary investigation by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the gunman approached the two Israelis at a local car wash on foot and opened fire at them from a close range with a handgun. The investigation didn’t clarify how the gunman was able to flee.
The IDF said that it had launched a manhunt for the gunman. For this purpose, a number of roads in the West Bank were closed off.
The Magen David Adom, Israel’s ambulance service, said its medics evacuated a 60-year-old man and a 29-year-old man who were hit by gunfire. The men, a father and son, were both declared dead at the scene shortly afterward.
The shooting attack was praised by both the Hamas Movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who said that it was a “heroic” act and “a natural response to the crimes of the occupation.”
In recent months, Huwara witnessed several attacks against Israeli civilians and troops. In February, two brothers were shot and killed there.
The new attack was likely carried out in response to Israel’s repeated raids and security operations in the West Bank, which claimed the lives of 173 Palestinians since the start of the year. Revenge attacks by Palestinians killed 28 Israelis during the same period.
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