Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi (R) arrives at the scene of a shooting attack which killed four Israelis near Kiryat Arba, near Chevron, last night.

Hamas’s Military Wing took responsibility for the attack, and Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, issued a statement of congratulations. He said the attack was a normal reaction to what he called “the crime of occupation.” Hamas, which controls Gaza, opposes the continued existence of Israel and opposes direct talks.

The Palestinian Authority hurried to condemn the attack, and Mahmoud Abbas, who was in Washington meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the time, immediately said that he had ordered his security forces to hunt down the perpetrators at any cost and as soon as possible.

Israel took the news of the attack very hard, due to the timing as well as its severity.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak updated Prime Minister Netanyahu on the shooting and also consulted with acting Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, according to Israeli media. 

“This is a very serious incident,” Barak said. “The IDF and security services will do everything to get their hands on the murderers. Israel will not allow any terror element to raise its head and will exact the price from the murderers and those who sent them. This is an attempt by a vile terrorist to hurt the chances of the talks opening in Washington.”

The brutal attack came as predictions were being made this week that the peace talks in Washington would not touch off an outbreak of Palestinian violence, like the “intifadas” that attended past peace efforts. All security forces in the region were put on high alert, and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi earlier this week toured Yehudah and Shomron with Brigadier General Nitzan Alon, the military commander in the territory, to discuss the army’s readiness to confront efforts to “inflame the region” ahead of peace talks in Washington.

Despite all the steps that were taken, there were no concrete warnings of this specific attack. Last night, the alert was raised to the highest level, for fear of additional attacks.

Israeli Education Minister Gideon Saar, a close ally of Netanyahu who is already in Washington, said it was a shocking incident but should not halt the peace talks.

“It is very regrettable ... not for the first time, against the background of diplomatic talks aiming to advance peace, the nearly automatic response of Palestinians was a terrorist attack on civilians,” Saar said.

Tzviki Bar Hai, the regional council head in Kiryat Arba, seemed to put less faith in diplomacy. He said the incident “provides food for thought about the will of our neighbors to co-exist. Every time we start talking, they respond with war.”

One of the victims of the attack Tuesday night had recently been forced by police to surrender his personal weapon. Family members told reporters that if he had been carrying his weapon, things might have turned out differently.

“If he had been carrying his weapon, he might have shot the Arabs when they approached,” one family member told reporters. 

The last fatal attack occurred in June, when Palestinians opened fire on a police vehicle near Chevron and killed police officer Yehoshua Sofer, Hy”d, near Beit Chaggai, the same town where the four victims of this attack live. The last attack targeting civilians, as opposed to security forces, was a long time ago.

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