Two Israeli women were killed and a third was critically hurt in a shooting attack in the West Bank on Friday, the military and medics said.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service said its medics initially responded to a vehicle collision on the Route 57 highway, near the Hamra Junction in the northern Jordan Valley.
When medics and troops reached the scene, the car was found to be riddled with bullet holes.
According to MDA, two women in their 20s were declared dead at the scene, and a woman aged 45 who was critically hurt in the attack was being taken to a hospital in Jerusalem by helicopter.
The Israel Defense Forces said the shooting was a terror attack and had launched a manhunt for the gunmen and other suspects who fled the scene.
“IDF forces are blocking roads in the area and have begun a pursuit of the terrorists,” the military said.
It was not immediately clear if the shooting caused the crash or if the gunfire occurred after the crash.
Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Elhayani told Channel 12 news that the attack was “a very serious incident” with “far-reaching implications.”
The attack came as tensions rose across the region after tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes, a major rocket barrage from Lebanon, clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, as well as a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria earlier in the week.
There have also been several attacks in the West Bank, with three soldiers hurt in a car-ramming attack on Saturday, and two more soldiers hurt in separate shooting attacks on Wednesday and Thursday.
Also during the past week, two soldiers were injured, one seriously, in a terror stabbing near the Tzrifin military base in central Israel.
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which this year once again coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover, is known to be a period of high tensions between Israeli forces and Palestinians. Tens of thousands of worshipers visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third holiest site, located in the compound that is the most sacred to Jews — throughout the month, regularly leading to a spike in tensions and violence with Israel.
The IDF imposed a closure on the West Bank from 5 p.m. Wednesday until Saturday evening, with crossing points closed to Palestinians on the first day of the Passover holiday. Gaza border crossings were also closed. The same was set to happen next week on the last day of Passover beginning on April 11 and lasting until April 12.
Some crossings opened Friday to let worshipers attend mass prayers at Al Aqsa.
Such closures are standard practice during festivals and holidays. The military says they are a preventative measure against attacks in periods of increased tensions.