Palestinian sources reported Tuesday that a settler opened fire at Palestinian vehicles driving near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, near Nablus. No injuries or damage were reported.
Security forces began canvassing the area, but the Judea and Samaria Police said that the incident is most likely one of road rage – a quarrel between two drivers over the right of way, which got out of hand.
Raafat, the Palestinian driver claiming he was shot at, told Ynet that he was driving near the entrench to Kedumim, "When a Subaru driven by a settler skittered me. I don't know the driver but I think he's from Havat Gilad.
"He skirted me and tried to block me at gun point, but I drove passed him, because I was driving a patient who needed to get to the hospital."
Raafat, a resident of the West Bank village of Um a-Tin, said vehicles driving behind him were gridlocked by the settler's impromptu "roadblock": "I could see other cars stopping, but I just kept going. After about a 100 meters I saw an IDF jeep and told them what happened, and that I thought the settler was going to cause problems."
Despite the report, and while some Palestinian sources said they heard echoes of gunfire, residents of the surrounding villages said they heard none.
Terror, it seems, has returned to the roads of the West Bank, just as the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks werereignited in Washington.
A terror spree lastweek left four Israelis dead and two injured, and saw rocket fire hit the Western Negev. Recent event have prompted the IDF to expand its deployment in the area – a move originally planned to take place just before Rosh Hashana – and moved up.
The defense establishment believes that terror groups will adopt the use of light artillery and small-arms in their attack, which are most likely to focus on the West Bank's main highways.
The IDF is also gearing for in increase in "lone-terrorist" incidents, as the militant groups are likely to draw legitimacy from the bigger terror attacks; and believes future terror attempts may include knifing and the use of Molotov cocktails.
The military also anticipates an increase in riots, which it expects will turn more and more violent.
Raanan Ben-Zur contributed to this report