Four Dead or Injured in West Bank Terror Attack...Netanyahu Vows to "Complete the War"

Two assailants wield knives after ramming car into pedestrians

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a stabbing terror attack by an armed group member from the Gaza Strip resulted in the death of one Israeli and injuries to three others.

On the afternoon of the 18th (local time), outlets including Ynet and The Jerusalem Post, citing Israeli rescue authorities and the Palestinian Authority (PA), reported that around 2 p.m., a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. Two assailants exited the vehicle and began stabbing people with knives.

On the afternoon of the 18th (local time), a stabbing terror attack occurred at an intersection near the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in the West Bank. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

As a result of this incident, a 70-year-old man was killed and two others were injured. A civilian woman was critically wounded after being shot by an Israeli soldier who was attempting to neutralize the attackers.

Israeli soldiers at the scene shot and killed the attackers. Several explosive devices were discovered inside the car used by the assailants.

The Gaza-based armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed responsibility for the attack via social media.

On the same day, a 20-year-old Israeli was shot and killed while driving near the Arab village of Musmus in northern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement declaring, "I am determined to complete the war on all fronts," emphasizing that this includes "disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip so that Gaza no longer poses a greater threat."

Recently, violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank has been intensifying. The previous day, dozens of settlers stormed the Palestinian village of Jaba, setting fire to homes and cars. On the 13th, settlers set fire to the Haj Hamida Mosque in the village of Deir Istiya and scrawled graffiti reading, "Muhammad (the Islamic prophet) is a pig."

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's Minister of Finance in Netanyahu's cabinet, has implemented a policy of expanding Israeli settlements during the more than two years of war in the Gaza Strip. Israel classifies authorized sites as "settlements" and unauthorized ones as "outposts," but the international community regards all such sites as illegal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.