West Bank shooting kills two Israelis
Deaths extend a violent week that began with a shooting at a colony on Sunday
Occupied Jerusalem: Israel has sealed off major roads leading to the West Bank city of Ramallah and set up checkpoints in search of a gunman who earlier in the day carried out a deadly shooting attack nearby.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the measures, saying only it had sent reinforcements to the area.
A Palestinian earlier on Thursday, opened fire at a bus stop outside a West Bank colony, shooting at occupation soldiers and civilians and killing at least two Israelis before fleeing, the military and Israel’s rescue service said.
The unusual measure to clamp down on Ramallah, the Palestinians' economic and administrative hub, reflects the severity with which Israel views an uptick in violence this week in the West Bank.
In a separate attack, an assailant stabbed two Israeli border police in Jerusalem's Old City early on Thursday before being shot dead, in the most turbulent 24 hours in the West Bank and Jerusalem in months.
The West Bank shooting came only hours after Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the West Bank following attacks that claimed the lives of three Israelis, including a baby.
One of the two Palestinians was Salah Barghouti, a 29-year-old accused of shooting at Israelis on Sunday, also at a bus stop near the Ofra settlement.
The deaths extend a violent week that began with a shooting outside a West Bank colony on Sunday, resulting in the death of a baby who was delivered prematurely following the weekend attack, and continued with the killing of two Palestinians wanted in that and another attack on Israelis in the West Bank.
The Israeli military said the assailant stepped out of his car and fired at the bus stop, wounding several people and then fleeing the scene. It said forces were searching the area for the attacker.