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Scene. Credit: Israeli Army Spokesperson. Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained two Palestinians and seized weapons during a predawn raid Saturday in the village of Deir Abu Mashal, with the Israeli army saying the two were suspects in a shooting attack that occurred hours earlier.

A gunman opened live fire Friday night at an Israeli settler vehicle near the illegal Israeli settlement of Nili. No injuries were reported, but the spokesperson said that the car was damaged with multiple bullet holes.
Following a widespread manhunt, Head of Foreign Media at the Israeli army Peter Lerner said on Twitter that two “suspected Palestinian terrorists” were detained and a gun was seized in an “overnight Special Forces intelligence based operation.”

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an via telephone that the investigation was ongoing.

It was the third shooting incident to be reported this week in the occupied West Bank.

On Thursday, Israeli forces detained two Palestinian youths during a raid on the Azzun village in eastern Qalqiliya in the northern occupied West Bank after Israeli forces said they were searching for a person suspected of having fired at a vehicle in the area.

Separately, a 26-year-old Palestinian was shot and injured Wednesday by Israeli forces in the village of Abud in the central occupied West Bank, after he allegedly opened fire from his vehicle.

Israeli forces raided Abud twice in the following 24 hours and set up an iron gate at the entrance of the village, with soldiers stopping and searching vehicles and passengers.

Since a wave of violence spread across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel in October 2015, Israeli forces have carried out mass detentions campaigns targeting suspected attackers as well as their family members.

The violence has been largely characterized by alleged, attempted, and actual small-scale attacks committed by Palestinians against uniformed Israeli soldiers or police as well as settlers, mainly using knives or similar weapons, and in some cases shootings.

Israel’s response to attacks and alleged attacks -- such as punitive home demolitions, the sealing of entire villages, mass detention campaigns, and withholding the bodies of Palestinians slain while committing attacks, has been condemned by rights groups, who have said the measures amount to “collective punishment” and represent a clear violation of international law.