News -Middle East: A car-ramming attack near the city of Tulkarm in the West Bank has injured eight Israeli settlers as Israeli forces seal off roads in the occupied territory.

The vehicle struck a group of people waiting at a bus stop near the entrance to Kafr Yona. The wounded have been transferred to nearby hospitals, according to Israeli media reports.

Some reports indicate that Israeli soldiers may have also been among those targeted in the incident. Meanwhile, Israeli media outlets have reported that the injuries sustained were classified as moderate to mild.

The driver fled after the incident, prompting Israeli forces to seal off several crossings in the occupied West Bank. Authorities later said the vehicle suspected to be involved was found in the Beit Lid area.

The suspected attack comes as Israel continues a campaign of deadly aggression and mass arrests across the occupied West Bank, which has escalated dramatically following the launch of its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

Hamas praises 'heroic operation'

In an official statement, Hamas praised the attack as a "heroic operation," saying it was a “natural response” to the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, from the desecration of holy sites and the war of extermination and starvation in Gaza to the deliberate killing of children in the occupied West Bank.

The statement also pointed to the killing of four Palestinian youths over the past 48 hours, who were shot dead by Israeli forces on Wednesday evening in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.

Hamas added that the operation“once again confirms that the spirit of resistance in the occupied West Bank remains alive,” and that continued aggression will not bring security to the occupying regime, but will instead be met with “painful blows.”

The movement called for intensifying resistance efforts in the West Bank and thwarting Israeli plans to eliminate the Palestinian cause through settlement expansion and forced displacement.

It affirmed that resistance remains the primary option to confront Israeli occupation crimes. 

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank remain displaced months after the Israeli military extended its assault into the territory earlier this year. According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), approximately 40,000 Palestinians remain forcibly uprooted five months after Israel began its onslaught, codenamed Operation Iron Wall in January.

MSF reported that large-scale military raids by Israeli forces on long-established refugee camps in the northern West Bank have caused extensive devastation. The Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps, in particular, have seen widespread destruction and demolitions.

At the same time, Israeli authorities are accelerating efforts to annex the West Bank outright. Meanwhile, some 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers continue to expand their presence across the occupied territory, often launching attacks against Palestinians with the support of the Israeli military. 

Since October 2023, attacks by Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 988 Palestinians in the West Bank. More than 7,000 Palestinians have been injured as well.

Source: Press TV