Military ambulance damaged in shooting attack in southern West Bank

A military ambulance was targeted in a shooting attack near the southern West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba late Monday night, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF said the ambulance and other troops were conducting routine security operations on the Route 60 highway near Hebron.

“IDF soldiers responded with live fire toward the source of the shooting,” the military said.

The ambulance was damaged after being hit by at least two bullets.

No soldiers were hurt in the attack, the IDF said.

The IDF said troops were scanning the area for suspects.

The attack came a day after Palestinian terrorists opened fire at a settlement in the northern West Bank and a town in Israel bordering the security barrier, causing slight damage.

The IDF said it had launched a manhunt for the suspects behind the shooting attack. A local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claimed responsibility.

Israeli troops operate in the West Bank, early May 29, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been elevated for the past year, with the military carrying out near-nightly raids in the West Bank, in the wake of a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks.

Earlier this year, a string of Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank killed 19 people and left several more seriously hurt.

At least 114 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year — most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians or were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.

Over the past year, Palestinian gunmen have repeatedly targeted troops carrying out arrest raids, military posts, Israeli settlements and civilians on the roads.