JERUSALEM (JTA) – Two Israelis were wounded in a West Bank shooting attack late Wednesday night, a day after four Israelis were killed in a similar attack.
The attack on an Israeli car driving in the West Bank occurred at the Rimonim Junction east of Ramallah. The car was hit at least 10 times in a drive-by shooting, then overturned on the side of the road. The couple, in their 30s, was able to get out of the car and hide in a ditch, according to reports.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would continue its "operations of resistance," Reuters reported. Hamas’ armed wing also claimed responsibility for Tuesday night’s shooting attack.
Earlier Wednesday, hundreds attended the funerals of the four Israelis killed Tuesday by a Palestinian faction reportedly trying to scuttle the start of peace talks.
Yitzhak Ames, 47, and his wife Tali, 45; Kochava Even-Haim, 37; and Avishai Schindler, 24, all from Beit Hagai in the southern Hebron Hills, were buried Wednesday morning. The Ames couple were the parents of six children ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 19. Even-Haim had an 8-year-old daughter.
Also Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the Tuesday night attack, calling it "a cynical and blatant attempt to undermine the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations starting tomorrow."
A Palestinian field near Hebron was set on fire Wednesday, reportedly by Jewish settlers in response to the attack. The fire was extinguished before it damaged the field, according to reports.
Overnight Tuesday, Palestinian Authority security forces arrested more than 200 Hamas-affiliated suspects in the Hebron area in connection with the shootings, when gunmen opened fire on the victims’ car at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday night condemned "all acts that target Palestinian and Israeli civilians," adding that the attack was meant to "disrupt the peace process and can’t be regarded as an act of resistance."
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