Monday’s attack comes amid a diplomatic push for a deal to end the 15-month-old war in Gaza and return Israeli hostages home and may pose another obstacle to sealing such a deal before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in the settlement where the attack took place, called for an urgent cabinet meeting “to discuss a shift in strategy and to genuinely eradicate terrorism.”

Smotrich, on the far right of Israeli politics, has for years called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, which is land that Palestinians want for a future state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring the perpetrators and anyone who aided them to justice.

“No one will be spared,” he posted on X.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank.

Hamas, the militant group which has run the Gaza Strip and has a presence in the West Bank, praised the attack as a “heroic response against the occupation’s continued crimes (including) the war of genocide in Gaza.” But it did not claim responsibility.

The West Bank has been transformed by the rapid growth of Jewish settlements since Netanyahu returned at the head of a far-right nationalist coalition two years ago. During that time, a surge in settler violence has led to US sanctions.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, the violence in the West Bank has spiraled, with hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis killed.

‘Act forcefully’
Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to “act forcefully” in response to Monday’s attack.

Israeli Army Radio said the military had imposed a cordon around all villages in the area to search for the suspects, who it believes fled to a nearby Palestinian village.

MDA said two women in their 60s and a man around 40 years old were pronounced dead at the scene, while eight passengers were wounded including a 63-year-old male bus driver who is in serious condition.

Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a post on Telegram that “Israel will never enjoy security” unless the Palestinian people also have security.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war. Most countries consider the settlements illegal, although Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.

Palestinian security forces moved into Jenin, in the northern West Bank, last month in a move they say is aimed at suppressing armed groups of “outlaws” who have built up a power base in the city and its adjacent refugee camp.

On Sunday, Israeli forces killed a 37-year-old man in a town south of Jenin after opening fire on his home, while a 17-year-old was killed in an Israeli raid in Askar camp in Nablus, according to Palestinian officials.

The post Three Israelis killed in northern West Bank shooting, army pursuing suspects appeared first on I Stand With Palestine.

Condemning the “horrifying” and “unacceptable” incident, the WFP called again for “all parties to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives, and allow safe passage for humanitarian aid.”

The “clearly marked WFP convoy was shot at by Israeli forces near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, putting the lives of our staff at tremendous risk and leaving the vehicles immobilized,” the agency said in a statement.
“The convoy, consisting of three vehicles carrying eight staff members, came under hostile fire despite having received all of the necessary clearances from Israeli authorities. At least 16 bullets struck the vehicles,” it added.

“Thankfully, no staff members were injured in this terrifying encounter.”

Gazans face dire conditions after nearly 15 months of war, with humanitarian agencies repeatedly warning not enough aid was reaching Palestinians in need due in part to looting as well as Israeli restrictions.

Monday’s incident came after the WFP said gunmen attacked one of its convoys in December, leaving two people dead in the looting.

At that time, the agency said in recent weeks “nearly every movement of aid through crossings in south and central Gaza has resulted in violence, looting and tragic deaths due to attacks and the absence of law and order along convoy routes inside Gaza.”
It said it was still following “procedures of coordination set in place in previous months” and that it had “repeatedly warned of the dangers of movement in the absence of law and order” in the Palestinian territory.

Israel invaded Gaza in October of 2023, after attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed 45,854 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

The post UN World Food Program accuses Israel of firing on its aid convoy in Gaza appeared first on I Stand With Palestine.