Palestinian Fires at Israeli Vehicle in Fourth West Bank Shooting in Three Days

Assailant flees scene; car damaged but none hurt, says Israeli army.

Jan 27, 2017

Palestinian protesters burn tires during clashes with Israeli security forces near Nablus, in the West Bank on January 27, 2017.Credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP

Yotam Berger

Gili Cohen

Jan 27, 2017

A Palestinian opened fire at an Israeli vehicle on Friday and fled the scene near the West Bank settlement of Nili, according to the Israeli military.

The vehicle was damaged but no one was injured and Israeli forces began searching the area for suspects.

Friday was the fourth incident of gunfire in the West Bank in three days. On Wednesday evening, Israeli troops came under fire at a post erected a few weeks ago near the village of Abud. The soldiers returned fire and wounded the assailant.

Two similar incidents followed on Thursday when a Palestinian fired at highway 55 near Azzun and fled the scene. An Israeli lookout identified another shooting on the same day on a road near the village of Abud.

Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday an Israeli soldier was lightly to moderately wounded by an explosive device in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that the incident occurred during an operation to arrest wanted individuals and that two Palestinians suspected of having affiliations with Hamas were taken into custody.

According to the army, the soldiers faced live-fire and rock throwing after making the arrests and one Israeli was wounded by shrapnel from an explosive.

A senior officer of the Judea and Samaria Division said Thursday that the main security threat in the West Bank today is shooting attacks.

The officer, who made his comments during a conversation with military reporters on the conclusions of 2016, said that the number of car-ramming, stabbing and shooting attacks was down last year in comparison to 2015. However, despite the decrease in the number of shootings that targeted soldiers and border police, the number of shooting attacks against civilians in 2016 saw no change from the previous year.

In both 2015 and 2016, 18 such attacks occurred.