The IDF spokesman confirms the death of two soldiers in the second Palestinian drive-by shooting in five days, on Thursday, Dec. 13. A third soldier and a female civilian are in critical condition. The attack occurred at Asaf Hill between Ofra and Bethel, while Israeli army and security forces were scouring Arab villages for the Hamas network which perpetrated the attacks on Ofra and Barkan. They caught up with a number of ringleaders in the last 24 hours, but most of the network of attackers and support teams are still at large,armed and searching for more terrorist targets. They are being cheered on by calls on the Palestinian street to avenge those “martyrs.” An obituary released by the Fatah movement in Ramallah calls the terrorists captured or killed while resisting arrest “heroic martyrs who died for the motherland and whose blood delineates the map of Free Arab Palestine.” Witnesses later reported that the Palestinian gunman on Thursday stepped out of the vehicle and approached the Asaf Hill bus stop before shooting straight into the group of Israelis standing there. He then jumped back into the car which sped off. Soldiers patrolling the roads and setting up roadblocks to catch the shooters have located the car. It was abandoned. At least two men were reported heading on foot from the car towards Ramallah. Ramallah has been was placed in lockdown and road blocks thrown up around Nablus. Reinforcements are being pumped into Samaria. Israeli communities are up in arms over the accelerating tempo of deadly Palestinian terror attacks, which have claimed five lives in three months, and are planning organized protests to demand tougher anti-terror action.
