



An Israeli man was shot to death in a suspected West Bank terror attack north of Ramallah Sunday morning, as tensions in the restive territory continued to spiral.
Police and military forces launched a large manhunt for suspects and reportedly placed roadblocks around Ramallah, following the shooting on Route 465 east of the Atarot industrial zone.
Police said a motive was being sought for the shooting, which came amid rising violence in the West Bank with the region thrown into turmoil by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Initial reports in Hebrew language media said officials believed the attack was likely terror-related.
First responders described the victim as a man in his thirties. Local authorities from the Binyamin Regional Council said he was an Arab citizen of Israel.
In footage, the victim could be seen slumped in the driver’s seat of a silver Volkswagen on the winding road, with several bullet holes punched through the windshield.
He was declared dead at the scene, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.
The shooting occurred between Atarot and the junction with Route 60, the West Bank’s main north-south artery, in an area named for an old British police station.
The shooting would appear to be the first deadly attack in the West Bank since November, though there have been a number of attempted attacks in that period. On December 31, two guards were injured in a stabbing at the entrance to the Mishor Adumim industrial zone, during which the assailant managed to grab a semi-automatic rifle.
It was also the latest of a series of incidents outside the northern quadrant of the West Bank, where much of the violence has been concentrated in recent years. Army raids have largely focused on Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem, where they have attempted to uproot terror movements that had gained footholds.
Overnight, a Border Police officer was killed and three others injured when an explosive hit their vehicle during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp.
During the extraction of the wounded officers, an attack helicopter carried out an airstrike against a group of Palestinian gunmen hurling explosives at troops, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Six Palestinians were killed in the strike, the Palestinian Authority health ministry in Ramallah said.