Hamas claims responsibility for 2nd W.Bank attack

Shot fired at a vehicle near Rimonim Junction injuring two, one in serious condition; in Washington, Abbas denounces latest terror attacks.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Hamas shooting (photo credit: Associated Press)
Hamas shooting
(photo credit: Associated Press)
The military wing of Palestinian terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for Wednesday night's drive-by shooting near Rimonim Junction in the West Bank that left two Israelis wounded, Israel Radio reported Thursday.
Shots were reportedly fired at a vehicle traveling in the area between the settlement Kochav Yaakov and Rimonim Junction.
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Judea and Samaria Police officers who arrived on the scene found an Israeli vehicle with bullet marks. "The vehicle descended down a nearby slope," police said. The officers who arrived in the area found one person seriously injured and another person slightly injured.Magen David Adom rushed the two Israelis to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem; a man aged around 30 in moderate to serious condition suffering from a gunshot wound to the knee, and a woman aged around 30 who was injured in the resulting accident. Both are conscious and stable, paramedics said.
Security forces were on the scene searching for the terrorists' vehicle.
Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas during his Wednesday night speech at the White House denounced the terror attacks against Israeli civilians in the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We [the Palestinian Authority] are not interested in spilling Israeli blood. We want the two peoples to live regular lives in real peace," Abbas said.
The shooting came the day after four Israelis were killed Tuesday night in a devastating Hamas shooting attack in the West Bank believed to have been aimed at torpedoing the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks set to kick off on Wednesday in Washington  DC.
 The four victims, described by a settler spokesman as a couple and two hitchhikers – were driving on Route 60 near the entrance to Kiryat Arba when their vehicle came under fire. The victims were named as Yitzhak Ames, 47, and his wife Tali Ames, 45, Kochava Even-Haim, 37, and Avishai Schindler, 24, all from Beit Hagai. The Ames couple had six children, including a one-and-a-half-year-old toddler.