The Israeli army and medical experts say that two Israeli women have been killed and one seriously injured in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank.
The women were in a car that crashed after being shot near the town of Hamra in the Jordan Valley.
Megan David Adom Ambulance Service said two women in their 20s were pronounced dead at the scene. The third, aged 45, is in critical condition.
The army said its troops had “started pursuit of the terrorists”.
The army said the incident was initially reported as a collision between an Israeli vehicle and a Palestinian vehicle, but when troops arrived, they found several bullet holes in the Israeli vehicle.
The injured woman was taken to hospital by helicopter for treatment.
Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai told all Israelis with firearms licenses to start carrying their weapons.
“This is a murderous attack that reminds us how relevant the threat of terrorism is in all its forms,” he said.
Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has intensified since the beginning of this year.
More than 90 Palestinians – militants and civilians – have been killed by Israeli forces. If Palestinians are confirmed to be behind Friday’s shooting, the Palestinian attacks would have killed 17 Israelis and one Ukrainian – all civilians except an Israeli paramilitary police officer.
Friday’s attack comes after the Israeli military said it carried out overnight airstrikes on targets linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The military said the strikes were in response to more than 30 rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday, which it blamed on Hamas.
Militants in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, fired another 40 rockets at Israel after the attack began.
The barrage from Lebanon followed two nights of Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, sparking violent clashes with Palestinians inside and sparking outrage across the region.
