The IDF said Friday night it had killed two Palestinian terrorists in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank in two separate but possibly linked attacks, which saw two suspected car bombs detonate around the same time.

In the first incident, a car exploded at a gas station near the Gush Etzion junction. Troops dispatched to the scene shot dead a terrorist who had arrived in the vehicle and who attempted to attack them, the military said.

Two men were moderately and lightly wounded by gunfire amid the incident, medics said, likely as a result of friendly fire while forces shot the alleged terrorist dead.

In the second incident, a Palestinian rammed a car through the entrance to the nearby settlement of Karmei Tzur. IDF troops opened fire at the attacker.

One of the members of the local security team, in his own car, crashed into the attacker and killed him. The guard himself was lightly hurt.

A short while later, the assailant’s car exploded due to a bomb planted in it.

The military was investigating both attacks and their possible connection, as well as searching for additional possible suspects.

Footage posted to social media showed the moment the suspect at the gas station was shot.

The commander of the IDF’s Etzion Regional Brigade, Col. Gal Rich, was slightly wounded in the gas station incident, a military source said. Rich was hit in the arm by gunfire. He was treated by medics and was in good condition.

An image from the scene showed the brigade commander investigating the attack.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it took to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem a 24-year-old in moderate condition and a 34-year-old in good condition after they were shot at the gas station.

Earlier this week the military launched counterterrorism operations in several West Bank cities, killing multiple gunmen. The IDF’s West Bank operations were conducted in the wake of an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last week. The bomber, whose explosive detonated prematurely, was named by the Hamas terror group as Jaafar Mona, from the West Bank city of Nablus.

Hamas official Khaled Mashaal called in a speech in Istanbul Wednesday for the resumption of suicide attacks, according to reports in Arabic media.

Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with Hamas.

According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 650 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.

During the same period, 27 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.