Two Israelis were killed and a third wounded in a shooting attack at the Barkan Industrial Park in the northern West Bank on Sunday.
The woman who was killed in the attack was named as Kim Levengrond Yehezkel, 28, from Rosh Ha’ayin, and the man was named as Ziv Hajbi, 35, from Rishon Lezion. The third victim sustained moderate injuries.
Security forces launched a manhunt for the shooter, who escaped the scene after the attack. The suspected attacker was a Palestinian man in his early 20s from the village of Shuweika, near Tulkarem.
The Israeli military said that the terrorist had no known association with terror groups, and stated: “The suspect arrived at the industrial park and shot three civilians. Large numbers of IDF and Shin Bet security service forces have launched a manhunt for the suspect, whose identity is known to security forces. In addition, large numbers of troops have spread out throughout the area to conduct searches and checks”.
Hamas celebrated the attack, calling it “heroic” and “a natural response to the Israeli occupation’s crimes”.
The Hamas statement read: “The Hamas movement and the Palestinian people everywhere praise the heroic operation near the Ariel settlement… We applaud this heroic operation and affirm that it comes as a natural response to the Israeli occupation’s crimes at the expense of the Palestinian people”.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad also praised the attack: “We praise this martyrdom operation and affirm that settlements are a legitimate target for resistance fighters and revolutionaries”, the terror group said in a statement. “We call on our proud people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and elsewhere to rise up in the face of settlement terrorism until the West Bank is liberated from settlements and settlers”.
The businesses in the Barkan Industrial Park, located near the West Bank settlement of Ariel, employ over 8,000 people, half of them Israelis and the other half Palestinians.
