Videos circulating online showed Israeli soldiers walking across a large pool of blood at the car wash to help move two bodies on stretchers to awaiting ambulances.
An Associated Press reporter saw Israeli military checkpoints set up on the roads leading into Hawara, with soldiers checking car trunks and passengers.
Several Israelis have been killed in Hawara in the current round of fighting and the death of two brothers, residents of a nearby settlement, set off a rampage by settlers through the town in February.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is composed of ultranationalist members who have demanded a harder line against the rising tide of Palestinian violence.
Palestinian militant groups praised the shooting attack, with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine posting statements online congratulating the perpetrators.
The Israeli military said in its statement Wednesday that a commando unit raided Balata seeking to destroy an underground weapons factory when a gunfight erupted.
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