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Scene, credit: Channel 10

Shadi Zuhdi 'Arafa, 28 -- photo courtesy Bassam Shweiki
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Two Israelis and a Palestinian were killed and at least 10 injured in a shooting attack in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc on Thursday, hours after two Israelis were killed in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli police said.

A Palestinian suspect reportedly opened fire from a vehicle, injuring at least 10 Israelis, including two seriously, Israeli police said.
Police later reported that two Israelis had died and a Palestinian bystander was also killed.

The two Israelis who were shot dead have been identified only as an 18-year-old American citizen and 49-year-old Yaakov Don, according to Israeli media.

The Palestinian bystander has been identified by Israel's civil administration as Shadi Zuhdi Ratib Arafa, from a village in Hebron. Israeli authorities are currently coordinating with Palestinian officials on transferring the body to the family, the spokesperson for the civil administration said.

Israeli media said that after the initial shooting the suspect in the shooting continued driving and rammed into another vehicle, opening fire again before being shot.

Initial reports said the suspect was killed at the scene, with later reports confirming two suspects were arrested by Israeli forces.
A spokesperson from the Israeli emergency services, Magen David Adom, said medics were responding at the scene of the "shooting incident," without providing further details.

Just hours before the incident, two Israelis were killed and two others injured in a stabbing attack in southern Tel Aviv.

Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said that a stabbing attack took place inside of the Panorama building on Ben Tsavi street in the city, leaving a 20-year-old Israeli dead.

An Israeli who was critically injured died shortly after in Tel Aviv’s Ichelov hospital, al-Samri said.

Two different suspects are believed to have stabbed the Israelis, one of whom was a 24-year-old Palestinian from Dura who was captured by Israeli civilians, the police spokesperson said.

The police detained the suspect, who was moderately injured when the forces arrived to the scene, al-Samri added.

Another suspect reportedly fled the scene, according to witnesses, al-Samri said, adding that the incident was under investigation.

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by IMEMC News

The Palestinian military liaison (D.C.O.) has received the body of Shadi Zuhdi 'Arafa, aged 28, from Hebron who was shot dead by Israeli forces today, at Gush Etzion junction.

According to Hebron-based reporter, Bassam Shweiki, the soldiers invaded the home of Mohammad Abdul-Baset al-Hroub, in Beit Awwa town, south of Hebron, violently searched it and caused excessive damage, while kidnapping one Palestinian.

The army claims that al-Hroub carried out an attack which led to the death of two Israeli settlers in the Etzion area, Thursday evening.

The two Israelis who were killed by live fire were identified, by Israeli media, as "an 18-year-old American citizen and 49-year-old Yaakov Don." Only hours before the incident, two Israelis were killed and another two injured during a stabbing attack in southern Tel Aviv.

'Arafa was said to be, merely by coincidence, near the place where a Palestinian gunman fired at Israeli settlers, hitting more than 10 of them and killing two of them, upon which Israeli soldiers began to shoot randomly towards Palestinian vehicles.

Israeli media said that, after the initial bullets were fired, the suspect "continued driving and rammed into another vehicle", opening fire again before being shot.

An Israeli spokesperson claimed, at first, that "the perpetrators" were three Palestinians; one of them was killed while "it seems", she said, one of them was taken into custody after being injured, while the third drove away in his car.

According to Shweiki, the Israelis claimed that the gunman exited a vehicle occupied by Palestinian resistance members and, afterward, fled with the car, while 'Arafa was shot while in his car, and then removed from it by the soldiers.

Shweiki points out that the move was obviously a blunder on the part of the military, as they immediately handed his body over to the D.C.O., knowing that he was not a part of the incident.

Later reports stated that the two other "suspects" were arrested by Israeli forces.

In related news, Mahmoud Sa'id 'Oleyyan (22) died today, of serious wounds suffered ten days ago, after being shot in al-Biereh, near Ramallah, during clashes with invading soldiers.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death of Oleyyan brings the number of Palestinians slain (since October) in the West Bank to 72, and 18 in Gaza, and 1 in the Negev Desert.
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by Chaim Levinson, Yaniv Kubovich and Gili Cohen for Haaretz

Three people were killed and five others were wounded in a shooting and car ramming attack in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank on Thursday afternoon, just a few hours after a stabbing attack killed two in Tel Aviv. The assailants in both incidents were detained. 

According to initial details, a Palestinian motorist armed with an Uzi submachine gun opened fire toward cars near the settlement of Alon Shvut around 4:35 P.M., killing three people. He continued driving toward Gush Etzion Junction, where he lost control of the vehicle, ramming into another car. He was then arrested.

An 18-year-old American yeshiva student, Ezra Schwartz, and a 24-year-old Palestinian, Shadi Arafa of Hebron, were pronounced dead on the scene.

A 51-year-old Jewish Israeli man, Yaacov Don of Alon Shvut, died of his wounds at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. Five people were lightly wounded in the attack, including American nationals, according to some reports.  

It was initially suspected that the Palestinian killed in the attack was an assailant as well.