Jerusalem: Firing again in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli woman killed in the attack; search operation continues

A suspected Palestinian assailant killed an Israeli woman in the south of the occupied West Bank on Monday. Additionally, Israeli officials said that one person was seriously injured. Violence continued to flare up in the restive area shortly after another shootout killed two Israelis.

In recent months, violence involving Palestinian militants, Israeli security forces, and radical Jewish settlers has increased in the region. Armed Palestinians fired against Israelis in the West Bank and inside Israel as well as nightly raids by Israeli forces to arrest terrorists.

Israeli security forces said the suspected Palestinian gunman opened fire on Route 60, the main north-south road in the West Bank, near the major city of Hebron. The army said an Israeli woman was killed and a man was seriously wounded in the attack. The Israeli rescue service reported that both victims were in their 40s.

Recently, an Israeli father and son were killed in an attack. The two were washing their car in the Palestinian city of Hawara in the northern occupied West Bank when they were killed in the attack. Security forces then had to launch an extended search operation and the West Bank was put under threat.

According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, around 180 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli firing in the West Bank since the beginning of this year. Israel says most of the dead were Palestinian terrorists, but stone-throwing youths protesting the invasion and those not involved in the clashes have also been killed.

About 30 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time. Israel says the raids are meant to destroy terrorist networks and thwart future attacks. Palestinians say the raids undermine their security forces. In the 1967 Middle East war, Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank.