Hamas praised Tuesday’s deadly ramming and stabbing operation near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Bethlehem as a “heroic” and “natural response” to Israel’s escalating aggression in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds (Jerusalem).

In its November 18 statement, Hamas declared: “Our people have the right to resist the occupation and respond to its crimes and violations, and this operation is nothing but an inevitable result of the occupation’s persistence in its aggression against our people, land, and holy sites.”

The Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad echoed the sentiment, calling the operation “a response to the ongoing crimes committed by settler gangs and the occupation army against our people.”

While both groups praised the operation, neither claimed responsibility.

Israeli media reported one settler killed and three injured when two Palestinians rammed a vehicle into a group before stabbing the settlers.

The Israeli military said the two Palestinians were shot and killed at the scene.

The incident comes amid surging settler Zionist violence, including Monday’s rampage in Al-Jab’a village near Bethlehem, where settlers torched homes and vehicles—part of a broader wave targeting Palestinian communities under expanding illegal settlements.

Hamas cautioned that continued raids, demolitions, and annexation would spark further confrontations, urging international intervention against Israel’s violations.