A suspected Palestinian gunman shot dead an Israeli couple in a drive-by shooting attack on their vehicle on Thursday night. The deadly shooting attack took place at Samaria, between the Israeli settlements of Itamar and Elon Moreh in occupied West Bank, reported the Jerusalem Post. Four of the couple's six children survived the shooting without injury.
Israel's military called the shooting a "ruthless, heinous, barbaric attack," according to VOA News.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) immediately deployed four more battalions in the West Bank and launched a manhunt in areas near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik.
"There is certainly a change of atmosphere on the ground. The Shin Bet is carrying out a large range of activities, intelligence activities, to place our hands on the terrorists," an IDF source told JPost.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Palestine for the attack, saying that "murderers knew they were killing a mother and a father because their children were there," according to Haaretz.
The drive-by shooting drew angry reaction from hardline Israeli politician Naftali Bennett.
"The time for talks (with the Palestinians) is over. It is time to act," said Bennett, who is handling the education portfolio in the Israeli government, according to Middle East Eye. "A people whose leaders support murder will never have a state."
