Pressure is mounting among members of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government for a large military operation in the West Bank after four Jewish settlers were killed and another four wounded, one seriously, in a shooting attack on Tuesday afternoon.
Two Palestinians armed with M-16 assault rifles opened fire in a restaurant at a petrol station close to the settlement of Eli in the northern West Bank, killing three Israelis. The fourth victim was killed at the petrol station forecourt.
One of the gunmen was shot and killed by an Israeli civilian while the second man stole a car at the petrol station and fled the scene. He was intercepted by Israeli special forces troops a couple of hours later and shot dead after he abandoned the stolen vehicle and hailed down a passing taxi, east of Nablus.
The shooting came a day after a fierce clash between Israeli troops and scores of Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin left six Palestinians dead.
After the shooting, settlers blocked West Bank roads and called for a widespread military operation.
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Mr Netanyahu held consultations with defence minister Yoav Gallant, leading generals and intelligence chiefs on Tuesday night to consider Israel’s response. Under consideration was an operation focusing on the two centres of militant activity in the northern West Bank: Jenin and Nablus.
“I would like to remind all those who seek to harm us: All options are open. We will continue to fight terrorism with full force and we will defeat it,” Mr Netanyahu said.
Speaking at the scene of the attack, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Jewish residents in the West Bank had become sitting ducks.
“Another shooting and yet another one. I urge the prime minister to go on a wide military operation and resume the policy of targeted assassinations in the West Bank,” he said. “We need to take down their buildings and impose the death penalty on those convicted of terrorism against Israeli citizens.”
The gunmen were identified as Hamas supporters from a village in the northern West Bank near Nablus. One had been released from an Israeli prison 2½ years ago.
Following the attack, Hamas praised the gunmen. A Hamas spokesperson said that the shooting was a response to “Israel’s crimes” carried out at the Jenin refugee camp and the “aggression” against the Al-Aqsa Mosque. “The struggle won’t stop until our people are free and independent,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday a 20-year-old Palestinian was shot dead in clashes with troops close to Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. The Israeli military said the victim had thrown a petrol bomb at soldiers.
