On the evening of December 9, seven people were wounded in a drive-by shooting near the Israeli settlement of Ofra in the West Bank.
One of those wounded was a 21-year-old pregnant woman who was in serious condition after sustaining wounds to her upper body. She was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, where doctors delivered her baby prematurely.
On December 12, the three-day-old baby was pronounced dead, his name was Amiad Yisrael.
The rest of the victims were also evacuated to a number of hospitals in Jerusalem, including a 21-year-old man who sustained moderate wounds to his lower limbs and a 22-year-old man was also moderately wounded. The other victims are two 16-year-old girls and two 16-year-old boys, all of whom sustained light wounds.
Israel’s Defense Forces initiated a series of raids in the city of Ramallah, where Palestinians clashed with the Israeli troops. Medics said six Palestinians were wounded.
Furthermore, one of the suspected shooters was tracked and killed. He was confirmed as a member of Hamas, as it claimed responsibility of the attack.
“Hamas announces with great pride the death of its martyr Salih Omar Barghouti, the perpetrator of the heroic Ofra operation,” the group wrote on its official Twitter account early on December 13th.
Barghouti, 29 and a resident of Kobar, a village near Ramallah, was killed December 12 evening after he tried to attack troops while escaping arrest and was shot, the Shin Bet security service said, adding that he was believed to have carried out the Ofra attack.
4 other people suspected of being involved in the attack were arrested, the Shin Bet said.
Another Palestinian suspect in an earlier shooting of 2 Israelis in a West Bank industrial park on October 7 was located and killed by Israeli Special Forces, also overnight on December 12.
On Decembee 13, a man stabbed and wounded two Israeli police troopers in East Jerusalem and was shot dead, police said. His identity was not immediately clear.
On the same day a Palestinian shot and wounded four people in the West Bank. Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said three people were in critical condition following the incident which also happened near Ofra.
North of Jerusalem, 2 IDF soldiers were killed and another one was injured.
2 IDF soldiers were killed & another soldier was severely injured in the shooting attack that occurred this morning north of Jerusalem.
The IDF extends its heartfelt condolences to the soldiers' families & will continue to support them. May their memories be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/smEUhZ1Nhp— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 13, 2018
IDF are undertaking operations to track down the suspects, thus the story is still developing.
“We will bring all terrorists and those who dispatch them to justice. Abu Mazen (Abbas), who finances the terrorists’ families, must also pay the price,” Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said on Twitter.
Whether there would be a larger-scale response by Israel is yet to be seen, however it appears that since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also assumed the post of Prime Minister, hawkish voices towards the Palestinians seem to have been relatively silenced.
