The armed attack by two Palestinians has killed four Israelis and wounded four others on Tuesday at a gas station near the Eli settlement in the West Bank.
Given the growing increase in attacks and especially after this Tuesday, voices are multiplying in Israel, including in the Government, in favor of a broad military offensive in the stronghold of the militias in the north of the West Bank. At the same time, and while the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) blames Israel for the escalation of the last year, Islamic Jihad and Hamas applaud the attack, pointing out that it is part of the response to the military incursion in Jenin that on Monday ended with armed clashes and the death of six Palestinians by shots from the Israeli forces.
After four in the afternoon, two members of the armed wing of Hamas arrived at the gasoline near Eli with a stolen car with Israeli license plates, opened fire in the restaurant and on its outskirts and killed four Israeli civilians (three youngsters aged 17, 18 and 21 years old and a 63-year-old man). One of the attackers was killed by a citizen who was armed. The other Palestinian managed to flee but two hours later he was located and killed near Nablus in an operation by the army and the anti-terrorist unit of the Police.
While the television networks broadcast the image, taken by the security camera of the place, of the two armed Palestinians, the loudspeakers of the adjacent neighborhood broadcast the message “Terrorist Penetration Alert” requesting the inhabitants not to leave their homes. “We are fed up with the Palestinian terrorist attacks that are incessant and bloody. There is no other remedy than a Defensive Shield II,” asked Eli’s manager, Ariel Elmaliaj, referring to the massive offensive launched in 2002 by the army in the West Bank after the suicide bombings in the Second Intifada (2000-2005).
Given the wave of attacks and due to the composition of his ultra-conservative coalition that won the elections in November in part due to his promises of a “strong hand in the face of terror” and to restore security to citizens”, the pressure on the Israeli prime minister , Benjamin Netanyahu is increasingly ready to launch a large-scale offensive in the northern West Bank, where the absence of the PNA security forces is also notable.For now, Netanyahu and the Army prefer to continue with the almost daily raids.