Two Israelis Wounded in West Bank Shooting Attack

Two Israelis were wounded in a shooting attack at the West Bank checkpoint of Hizma Thursday morning. A 47-year-old man was seriously wounded and a 20-year-old Israeli soldier was lightly wounded. The Palestinian assailant was shot and killed at the scene.

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According to Palestinian sources, the assailant behind the attack is Mazan Hasan Ariva, an intelligence officer in the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian Authority and Palestinian security forces have yet to respond to the report.

During a routine car inspection, the assailant got out of his car and shot a soldier at the checkpoint. A passerby, presumably Palestinian, was wounded by the gunfire as well.

According to Magen David Adom emergency responders, shots were fired at a car near the checkpoint. The wounded Israeli was shot in the upper body, and was evacuated to Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.

Mustafa Ariba, the suspect's brother, says the family has no information on what happened and having a hard time believing that his brother could be involved. The brother told Haaretz that Hassan indeed has been working in the Palestinian security services for the past 15 years, is married and is a father of four. "It is hard to believe that a man like him would perpetrate a terrorist attack, and we don't really understand what happened there in the checkpoint, and how he was shot and killed, without anyone Israeli or Palestinian notifying us. We have yet to receive his body."

Israeli security forces clashed with Palestinians in East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning after entering the Shoafat refugee camp to demolish a terrorist's home.

On Sunday, two successive stabbing attacks were carried out in Jerusalem leaving a border police officer and a 30-year-old woman wounded.

This is a developing story.