Palestinians shot twice at Israelis in the West Bank within a 24-hour period, as settler leaders called on the IDF to do more to crack down on rising Palestinian terror.
"We are living with this day after day," said Kiryat Arba and Hebron Council head Eliyahu Liebman.
"We demand that the Defense minister and the Israeli government restore deterrence and to kill the terrorists before they head out, or while they are on their way, to carry out an attack and not they execute attacks that claim lives," Liebman said.
He spoke just after Palestinians fired shots at a tour led by the right-wing group Regavim just outside the Kiryat Arba settlement near Route 60. The council's land coordinator was part of the tour.
The tour focus on illegal Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank, which is under IDF civilian and military rule.
"We demand that the Defense minister and the Israeli government restore deterrence and to kill the terrorists before they head out, or while they are on their way, to carry out an attack and not they execute attacks that claim lives,"
Kiryat Arba and Hebron Council head Eliyahu Liebman
Palestinian terrorism on the rise around Hebron area
Regavim had paused to film an illegal Palestinian cemetery near Route 60. Its field coordinator Menesh Shmueli said "We were about to film an informational video" near the cemetery "when suddenly we heard shots from close range.
"We spotted the vehicle from which the shots were fired and immediately reported it to the relevant security forces. 'Fortunately, we were not hurt, but we got a close-up view of how the battle for Area C, which we have been sounding the alarm about for years, morphs from illegal construction and seemingly-innocent agricultural expansion into a life-threatening live fire – all in the blink of an eye," Shmueli said.
Shmueli also posted on social media that the opening minute of the video had been filming when the shot was fired.
Separately Palestinians fired late Wednesday night at an Israeli vehicle traveling between the Adorayim outpost and the Negahot settlement in the South Hebron Hills region. The vehicle was slightly damaged, but no one was injured.
Two weeks ago Palestinians fired at a yeshiva at the entryway to the Carmel settlement in the South Hebron Hills, injuring one of the students.
The South Hebron Hills Citizen's Committee plans to hold a protest event at the entryway to Adorayim on Friday at 9:30 a.m. A convoy of cars will head from there to Negahot and back.
"We, the residents of the region, won't allow terrorism to grow stronger and will make sure to stand against it everywhere," the Citizen's Committee said.
Separately on Wednesday a resident of Kedumim was lightly injured in the head when his vehicle was stoned by Palestinians as he drove near the Gilad Farm outpost.
Why the sudden uproar in violence?
The violence comes amid the IDF operation Breaking the Wave which began at the end of March to crack down on Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank. So far this year, Palestinian terror has claimed the lives of 18 civilians. Two security personnel have also been killed in the violence.
At the United Nations Security Council in New York on Wednesday, many of the member states spoke about the growing number of Palestinians, over 81, killed by Israeli security forces this year, many of whom were during violent riots or IDF raids.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said that 29 of those Palestinians were killed from June 17 to September 20 of this year, adding that 1,813 Palestinians were also injured in that period.
That would not include the four Palestinian gunmen killed in Jenin on Wednesday.
The Palestinian fatalities and injuries occurred during Israeli "security operations, demonstrations, clashes, stone-throwing incidents, attacks and alleged attacks against Israelis, and other incidents," Wennesland said.
"Israeli settlers or other civilians perpetrated 128 attacks against Palestinians resulting in one death and 51injuries and/or damage to Palestinian property," Wennesland explained.
He explained that one Israeli civilian and one army officer had been killed by Palestinians in that period. In addition, "49 Israelis, as well as two Israeli security forces personnel were injured by Palestinians in clashes, rock and Molotov cocktail throwing, attacks and other incidents.
"The majority of those were stone-throwing attacks against Israelis, including settlers, that resulted in injuries or damage to Israeli-owned property," he said.