Jerusalem (AFP)

A young Israeli woman was killed, and her father and brother were wounded on Friday in a small-scale bomb attack in the occupied West Bank, where the booming Jewish settlements are at the center of fierce tension.

According to the Israeli army, the "homemade bomb attack" took place near the Jewish settlement of Dolev, north of Ramallah, in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel for more than 50 years.

It occurred near a water tank that also serves as a pool for Israelis and Palestinians in the area, according to Israeli officials.

In the process, Israeli military and police patrolled the area and inspected vehicles for suspects, according to AFP journalists there.

"On my own behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel, I offer my deepest condolences to the family of the young Rina Shnerb who was killed in a terrorist attack and wish her father, Rabbi Eitan, a speedy recovery. , and his brother Dvir, "responded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The funeral of Rina Shnerb, who was 17 years old according to the rescuers, is scheduled for the afternoon in Lod, in Israeli territory, where the Shnerb family resides, announced the mayor of the municipality.

The father and brother, both injured, were hospitalized in Jerusalem.

The attack, which has not been claimed, comes one week after an attack on the car ram wounded two young Israelis at the entrance of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and a little over two weeks after the death of a young Israeli soldier found stabbed near a colony.

The Palestinian armed groups of Islamic Jihad and Hamas did not claim the murder of the 19-year-old soldier, but praised him as a "legitimate" and "normal" response to the development of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. .

- "Strengthen" the colonies -

While Israel's colonization of the West Bank of East Jerusalem has continued under all Israeli governments since 1967, it has accelerated in recent years under the leadership of Netanyahu and his ally in Washington, Donald Trump.

Today, more than 600,000 Israelis are living in often confrontational coexistence with three million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel.

"We will continue to strengthen the settlements, we will strengthen our roots and strike our enemies," said Netanyahu, who is currently campaigning for the elections on 17 September and who earlier this year suggested annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In recent days, incidents have also increased along the border between the Gaza Strip, home to some two million Palestinians, and Israel, with rocket attacks, infiltration attempts on the Israeli side and retaliatory strikes by the Israeli army.

On Friday, a Palestinian threw grenades at soldiers trying to break into Israel from the Gaza Strip and was wounded in the Israeli response, officials said.

Analysts said Netanyahu wants to avoid escalation in Gaza ahead of the Israeli elections, but Palestinian Islamist movements, including Hamas in power in Gaza, are seeking pressure to obtain further concessions from the Jewish state.

© 2019 AFP