Israeli troops check cars at a checkpoint near a shooting scene in Huwara in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 19, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

A suspected Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israelis in the West Bank on Saturday, the Israeli military said, in a flashpoint area that has seen escalating violence for months.

The two men, a father and son, were shot at close range at a car wash in the Palestinian village of Huwara, according to Israel‘s public broadcaster Kan.

The Israeli military said it was searching the area for the assailant and had set up roadblocks in the vicinity of the attack. Israel‘s ambulance service confirmed two people had died in the shooting.

The area of Huwara in the northern West Bank has been the scene of previous deadly attacks on Israelis and retribution assaults by Jewish settlers against Palestinians, including a rampage in that village in February.

Violence in the West Bank has worsened over the past 15 months with frequent Israeli raids and Palestinian street attacks.

Prospects of reviving U.S.-brokered peace talks that aimed to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem, remain dim almost a decade after their collapse.

The Palestinians have limited self-rule in the West Bank and remain split between a Western-backed administration and armed Hamas Islamists who reject coexistence with Israel.

Hamas and other armed groups praised the Huwara attack on Saturday.