2 killed in West Bank after Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Gaza

Two Israeli women were killed in a shooting in the West Bank on Friday, following a series of Israeli strikes on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

The two women, both reported to be around 20 years old, were pronounced dead at the scene, while a third was transferred to a hospital near Jerusalem in critical condition, according to Israeli emergency medical services.

The shooting occurred after the Israeli military carried out overnight airstrikes on targets connected to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in response to a barrage of more than 30 rockets fired from Lebanon on Thursday. 

According to the Israeli Defense Forces, 25 of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defense system while five landed in Israeli territory and four remain under investigation.

The escalation of violence comes amid a series of Israeli police raids on the al-Asqa Mosque in Jerusalem on Tuesday and Wednesday, during both the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover. 

The U.S. expressed concern about the Israeli police raids, as well as the rocket attacks by Lebanon, on Thursday.

“We are concerned by the scenes we see coming out of Jerusalem,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. “It is our viewpoint that it is absolutely vital that the sanctity of holy sites be preserved.”

“We emphasize the importance of upholding the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem, and any unilateral action that jeopardizes that status quo, to us, is unacceptable,” Patel added. “We call for restraint, coordination and calm during the holiday season.”