4 Israelis injured in explosion, shooting in occupied West Bank

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - At least four Israelis were injured Friday night in two separate attacks in the settlement of Gush Etzion in the southern occupied West Bank.

Israeli media reported that the perpetrators of the two attacks were killed by Israeli forces.

Israeli Army Radio reported that two settlers were injured in an explosion involving a car in Gush Etzion; one sustained moderate injuries, while the other was lightly injured.

The Jerusalem Post said that the suspect involved in the car explosion was killed by Israeli forces in the area.

According to Israeli Army Radio, at almost the same time, two other settlers were shot and injured in an attack in the Karmei Tzur Kibbutz, also within the Gush Etzion settlement.

The Israeli army claimed to have "neutralized" the assailant, a term used to refer to killing an attacker.

Palestinian groups have yet to comment on the incidents.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 674 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar