An unknown number of Palestinian terrorists carried out a shooting attack targeting Jews driving in a car near Shavei Shomron in Samaria on Thursday night. Yehuda Dimentman, age 25, a student at the Homesh yeshivah was murdered. He leaves behind a wife and a nine-month-old son. Another student was moderately wounded and another lightly wounded, said officials.

The other passenger in the car, Neria Feldman, said, “Yehuda was sitting behind me and yelled that he had a bullet in his neck and really started to have a hard time breathing. I was calling into emergency services so they would know where we were.”

Channel 13 reported that Entman had survived another violent attack in East Jerusalem eight months ago.

According to the report, the three students were brought to the gate of Shavei Shomron, where they received medical treatment by United Hatzalah, Magen David Adom and Israel Defense Forces’ medics.

Security forces stated that they believe the shooting attack was carried out by two terrorists who fired on the vehicle from close range. They are still searching for the Palestinian murderers. Brig. Gen. Avi Bluth, commander of the IDF division responsible for the area, said at least 10 bullets were fired into the car. He said the car was hit by an ambush from the side of the road, not from a passing vehicle, and that troops had found the spot where the terrorists sat before the attack. Three additional infantry battalions of IDF troops, along with special forces and intelligence collection units, were deployed to Yehudah and Shomron following the attack, as the military, the Shin Bet and Israel Police scoured the Shechem area for the terrorists. According to Palestinian media, at least three Palestinians were arrested in overnight raids in the village of Burqa, just north of where the attack took place, outside the Homesh “outpost.”

Established in 1978, the Jewish-owned homes in Homesh were demolished in 2005 as part of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza as well as four other settlements in Samaria. Jews have returned to establish a Yeshiva and are trying to reestablish the town. Fath, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority, has openly stated their intention to meet any attempts to build a community with “fire and attacks.”.

Israel has been suffering a wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks in recent weeks. This is the second deadly shooting attack in the last month. Media watchdogs have criticized coverage of the attacks. Reuters reported on a stabbing attack in which a Palestinian woman stabbed  a Jewish mother in the back with a foot-long knife while she was walking her children to school under the headline, “Palestinian girl facing Jerusalem eviction held on suspicion of stabbing Jewish neighbour.” The Washington Post reported on the stabbing of a Jewish man by a Palestinian man that was caught on video  under the headline “Clashes break out in Jerusalem after Palestinian who allegedly stabbed Israeli is killed by police [emphasis added].”

At the same time, Israel has been facing criticism from the US and the UN over alleged “settler violence.” This unsubstantiated claim has even been picked up by some Israeli politicians.

Hamas, the elected government in Gaza, “blessed” the attack.

“Hamas blesses this heroic operation in Nablus against the occupation forces and the murderous settlers,” said Hamas spokesperson Hazim Qasim. “This operation proves yet again that our heroic people will continue their struggle until they expel the occupier.”

“We bless the heroic operation carried out by heroic resistance fighters from among our people, which came as a natural response to the crimes of the occupying soldiers and settlers,” said a spokesperson for Islamic Jihad’s Israeli branch.

The anti-Israel left-wing extremist NGO, Peace Now, called for the evacuation of Homesh in response to the murder.

“Homesh is a masterclass of lawlessness on the part of the state,” Peace Now said in a statement. “The illegal outpost, which has been inhabited time and time again through the IDF’s turning a blind eye, has been a source of substantial violence for many months. This cycle of bloodshed must be stopped.”

Hundreds of mourners attended the hesped (eulogy) of the victim, Yehudah Dimentman, on Friday morning in Homesh. He will be buried later in the day in Yerushalayim’s Har Hamenuchos cemetery. 

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Thursday night condemned the shooting attack without assigning blame.

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attack today in the West Bank that killed an Israeli citizen and wounded two others. Our thoughts are with the victims of this attack and their families,” tweeted Price.