A dual United States-Israeli citizen, who served in the US Marines and is a weapons instructor, was seriously injured on Sunday afternoon in a shooting attack in the Palestinian town of Huwara in the West Bank. Huwara was the site of an attack in late February that killed two Israeli brothers as they drove on the main road past the town.
The seriously injured man was identified as David Stern from the West Bank settlement of Itamar. His wife was in the car at the time of the attack but was not hit by any of the nearly 20 bullets shot into the car. Stern returned fire and injured the gunman, who took off on foot but was later caught and arrested.
Photos on social media showed Palestinians celebrating the attack by handing out sweets and cheering. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem called the attack a “natural response to the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people.”
Later on Sunday, an Israeli man, 64, was injured after his car was attacked by gunfire and stones in the West Bank near Hashmonaim Junction in central Israel.
The attack came as Israeli and Palestinian officials were meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss how to lower tensions ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.