The incident has raised fears of escalation during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which partly coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Two Israeli soldiers were injured, the army says, in a drive-by shooting claimed by a Palestinian armed group in the flashpoint town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) said in a statement Saturday that it carried out the shooting. The army said it was pursuing the suspect.
It was the third shooting reported in a month in Huwara, a town that has been at the center of Israeli military raids and a settler frenzy in recent weeks.
The incident raised fears of escalation during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which partly coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover, a time when past violence erupted.
In a message from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim said that “any hope for a peaceful start to the holy month of Ramadan vanished on this first Saturday of the month”.
“A soldier has been seriously injured, according to the Israeli army. The other soldier has moderate injuries and the hunt for the gunman or gunmen is on,” she added.
Immediately after the shooting, the main road leading to Huwara and shops were closed, while checkpoints around the town prevented people from getting through.
“People were prevented from entering the main road,” Ghoneim said, adding that there were clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli army as it entered Huwara.
Israeli media said dozens of settlers staged a protest at the entrance to Huwara after Saturday’s shooting and Israeli troops prevented them from entering the town.
Escalating tensions
To allay any concerns that the holy month would witness violence, the first Friday of Ramadan prayers on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque – a tinderbox holy site in Jerusalem – ended peacefully.
On Saturday night, Israeli police said they entered the shrine to remove some worshipers who had remained in the mosque after night prayers, claiming they intended to “violate public order” and prevent early morning prayers and visits from Israelis and tourists. to disturb. Muslim worshipers often spend the night in mosques, where they pray and read the Quran all night.
There is no immediate response to Saturday night’s removals of Palestinian or Muslim officials who have historically condemned Israeli troops entering the sanctuary.
At a meeting in Egypt last week, Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged to de-escalate violence during Ramadan.
A Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli settlers in a car in the same city last month during the first round of Israeli-Palestinian de-escalation talks in Aqaba, Jordan. This was followed by a rampage by Israeli settlers who killed a Palestinian man and set fire to dozens of houses and cars.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose recent remarks about the Palestinians, and earlier about Huwara saying it should be “eradicated,” have drawn widespread criticism, said Israel should not allow attacks from the city to become routine.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has reached its highest level since 2006, the United Nations told Al Jazeera.
In 2023, an average of three violent incidents per day will be registered, compared to two incidents per day in 2022 and one incident per day in 2021.
Over the past year, Israeli forces have made thousands of arrests in the West Bank and killed more than 250 Palestinians, including combatants and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and three Ukrainians have been killed in Palestinian attacks.