After a relatively calm period, a new series of violent attacks have struck the West Bank and overshadowed the week of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
On Thursday, 8 August, an off-duty soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian attacker near the Migdal Oz settlement. The soldier has been later identified as the 18-year old Dvir Sorek, from the West Bank settlement of Ofra.
The army later confirmed that the dead boy was a student in a pre-military Jewish seminary programme, and was not armed nor wearing a uniform. The discovery of the dead body followed an extensive manhunt for suspects in the adjacent Palestinian village, by the Israeli forces, police and the Shin Bet intelligence service.
A week later on Thursday, 15 August, two 14-year old Palestinian boys attacked a police officer with knives and wounded him moderately in the Old-city of Jerusalem. A video of the scene shows the two boys assaulting the police officer, and immediately being shot down by Israeli forces.
One of the Palestinian boys died from his injuries on the scene, while the other was brought severely injured to a hospital.
Only two days later on Friday, 16 August, two Israeli siblings, 19 and 14 years old, were rammed by a car near the settlement bloc of Gush Etzion. One of the Israeli siblings suffered from severe head injuries, while the other was lightly injured.
Footage of the incident shows a white car with an Israeli license plate on the Route 60, which gets off the road close to a bus stop, where the two Israelis were standing.
The 26-year-old Palestinian driver of the car, Ala Khader al-Hreimi, was shot directly, even though it was not clear if it was a deliberately carried out attack.
Following these attacks, the Gush Etzion Regional Council head, Shlomo Ne’eman, told the Jerusalem Post “We demand from the government action that will lead to the end of this uncertainty for the future of Judea and Samaria. We are calling for the establishment of sovereignty. The answer is to continue to build and grow in Judea and Samaria”.
Only days before the violent attacks, a report of Palestinian intelligence services, warned, according to Ynetnews, of a deterioration of the security situation in West Bank.
The report concludes that there will be an increase in shootings and the use of explosive devices as well as an eruption of civil protests.