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Two Israeli soldiers killed in new shooting outside West Bank settlement

The incident outside Givat Asaf comes as two Palestinians suspected of earlier shootings were shot dead by the IDF

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Two Israeli soldiers have been confirmed dead after a shooting at a bus stop near the West Bank settlement of Givat Asaf on Thursday.

A male soldier and a civilian woman were left with serious injuries after the attack.

The Israeli army confirmed witness reports that a man disembarked from his vehicle, opened fire and then fled the scene on Route 60, the main north-south route in the West Bank.

A manhunt is underway and roads leading into Ramallah have been sealed off, a spokesman confirmed to Haaretz.

All four victims were reported to be in their twenties.

"When I arrived at the scene, I saw four people who had been shot," said Reuven Reuven, a volunter for the emergency response service Zaka. "Two of them were in critical condition and two were taken to hospital in serious condition. After resuscitation attempts failed, the medical team was forced to declare them dead at the scene.

"ZAKA volunteers from the Shai district are dealing with the bodies and clearing the very difficult scene of all human remains.”

Thursday morning's shooting came hours after news of two separate operations in which the IDF tracked down Palestinians suspected of killing Israelis in recent West Bank attacks.

Salah Barghouti — the suspect wanted in connection to Sunday's drive-by shooting at a bus stop — was killed in an operation hours after an Israeli baby died after being delivered prematurely as a result of the attack.

Hours later, Israeli police said Ashraf Naalweh, accused of shooting dead two Israelis in a West Bank industrial zone in October, was found armed near Nablus. He was killed during an arrest raid.

Hamas, which rules Gaza but has operatives in the West Bank, claimed both Barghouti and Naalweh were its members, but did not claim responsibility for the attacks.

Israeli security sources had earlier said they believed Naalweh was a lone agent.

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