In the attack at Gust Etzion, two young Palestinian men first tried to run over people with a car, then jumped out armed with knives. One of the injured, a woman, is reported to have life-threatening injuries.
In a statement, the Israeli military says that the perpetrators were shot dead.
A few hours later, Al Jazeera reported that one of the media company's photojournalists had been shot in the leg by Israeli military.
The man was covering a demonstration where Palestinians protested against being prevented from returning to their homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp, which was evacuated by the military this spring. AFP writes that one of the news agency's reporters witnessed the incident.
Warns of Palestinian state
The attack in Gush Etzion has prompted right-wing politicians to once again warn that a Palestinian state must never become a reality.
Terrorism fueled by the hope of an (independent) state, said the leader of the Gush Etzion settlement, Yaron Rosenthal, and called for increased protection for Israelis.
Naftali Bennett, a right-wing nationalist and former prime minister, according to the Times of Israel, links the act to the UN Security Council's late Monday vote in favor of the peace plan for the Gaza war that the United States has brokered - a plan that ultimately opens the way for a Palestinian state.
Hamas threatens
Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist organization, has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but in a statement called it "a normal response" to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
The group also threatens more attacks in response to “plans to annex the West Bank.”
On Monday, parts of a Palestinian village in the West Bank were destroyed by Israeli settlers, a violence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned.
Since the war in Gaza broke out with the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, over 1,000 Palestinians, including combatants, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank. During the same period, 44 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks.
