JERUSALEM (AP) — A shooting attack near a West Bank settlement on Thursday killed at least two Israelis and critically wounded another two, Israel’s rescue service said.

The deaths extend a violent week that began with a shooting outside a West Bank settlement on Sunday, resulting in the death of a baby who was delivered prematurely following the weekend attack, and continued with the killing of two Palestinians wanted in that and another attack on Israelis in the West Bank.

Eli Bin, the head of Israel’s Magen David Adom service, told Israeli Army Radio that two people were killed in the shooting, which occurred at a location about a ten-minute drive south from the place of Sunday’s attack. Their identities were not immediately known.

A later statement from the service said paramedics arrived at a bus stop to find four “youngsters” with gunshot wounds.

Israeli media reported that a passing car opened fire outside the settlement, but it was not clear if the gunmen had fled the scene or were stopped. The Israeli military had no additional information.

While the West Bank experiences occasional deadly violence, often between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters, much of the Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent months has been limited to the Gaza Strip, where some 175 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in border protests.

“In recent days, we definitely feel like the situation (in the West Bank) is getting worse,” Shalom Galil, a paramedic who assisted at the scene of the shooting, told Israeli Army Radio.

The shooting comes hours after Israeli security forces tracked down and killed a Palestinian accused of killing two Israelis.

Israeli police said Ashraf Naalweh was found armed near the West Bank city of Nablus and was killed during an arrest raid.

Israel accuses Naalweh of shooting to death two Israelis and wounding another at an attack on a West Bank industrial zone in October. He fled the scene and Israeli forces have been searching for him since.

“Israel’s long arm will reach anyone who harms Israeli citizens,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Police said it had made a number of arrests in its attempt to hunt down Naalweh and suspected he was planning on carrying out another attack.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed Salah Barghouti, a Palestinian suspect wanted in the drive-by shooting earlier this week at a West Bank bus stop.

In Sunday night’s attack, assailants in a Palestinian vehicle opened fire at a bus stop outside a West Bank settlement, wounding seven people, including a 21-year-old pregnant woman, before speeding away.

The militant Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip said that both Barghouti and Naalweh were its members but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attacks the two carried out.

“The flame of resistance in the (West) Bank will remain alive until the occupation is defeated on all our land,” Hamas said.

Also Thursday, police said an assailant stabbed two officers in Jerusalem’s Old City, wounding them lightly. The officers opened fire on the attacker and he was killed, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Police identified the man as a 26-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank. It released security camera footage that shows the man lunging toward the officers and appearing to stab them.

Rumors are flying following a visit to the White House by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and subsequent reports that he’s now at the top of President Trump’s Chief of Staff wishlist. If true, it’s not the safe pick that Nick Ayers would have been had he been willing to take the job. It’s not the prudent pick that Representative Mark Meadows would have been if he wasn’t more useful to the President on Capitol Hill. It would be the crazy, controversial, big splash pick that many had expected from the President’s cabinet when he was first sworn into office.

It may be the perfect pick at the perfect time for President Trump.

Spotted at the White House today: Newt Gingrich pic.twitter.com/cfBK3teDjQ

— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) December 12, 2018

Right now, the President is building his reelection team. Make no mistake, everyone who is replaced as well as their replacements for the next year will be decided upon based on how well they can help the President win reelection. That’s standard practice in the White House, though some would argue these picks were supposed to be made from the beginning and not two years later, but this isn’t your parents’ White House.

Gingrich brings an extreme wealth of political knowledge to the table. It’s hard to find anyone who understands better how to navigate every political map in DC from Capitol Hill to special interest groups to the White House staff itself. Few have ever doubted his credentials. The problems with Gingrich have often circled around his private life. A President whose private life is already under attack may be the only one who could bring in a man like Gingrich.

Reactions on Twitter were as expected.

.@newtgingrich would be perfect for this role. The corrupt, immoral, lying former author of the Contract on Americans can come back to reprise his role and continue to wreak destruction in conjunction with the corrupt, lying Trumpistas. https://t.co/lzIxUqi3pB

— Jodi Jacobson (@jljacobson) December 13, 2018

Considering Newt Gingrich isn’t scraping the bottom of the barrel.

It’s picking up the barrel and digging until you hit a septic tank filled with medical waste. https://t.co/lw4039BEqK

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) December 13, 2018

Newt Gingrich…scumbag. pic.twitter.com/JB8UKrTFCm

— Kai (@KaiCisz) December 13, 2018

Reports say Newt Gingrich is the President's top choice for Chief of Staff.

Who's going to tell him… https://t.co/L6iQf8ae7N

— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) December 13, 2018

I’ve now heard from two different sources that @newtgingrich (who was at the White House today) is currently topping the list for the next @realDonaldTrump administration White House Chief of Staff.

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) December 13, 2018

If the gets the gig, I predict Newt Gingrich will last 4.5 Scaramuccis as Trump’s Chief of Staff

— Mark R. Yzaguirre (@markyzaguirre) December 13, 2018

Newt Gingrich destroyed the Republican Party and molded modern politics into the hellscape it presently is, so I can think of no one more deserving of booking passage on the Trump Titanic as it steams full ahead than him. https://t.co/qPFsKB9AKu

— Jessica Scott (@jessicascott714) December 13, 2018

Reports surfacing that Newt Gingrich is Trump's top pick to replace John Kelly as White House chief of Staff…

Gingrich was seen at the White House yesterday.

Would you support President Trump's decision to make NEWT GINGRICH the next White House Chief of Staff?

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) December 13, 2018

My Take

I may be biased since he was my pick for the GOP nomination in 2012, but I’m glad to see Gingrich in the mix. I would have rather seen Meadows in the role, but the President knows what the President knows.

This could all be a smokescreen to keep us focused on something other than Michael Cohen and the National Enquirer. Or it could just be more rampant unsubstantiated rumors cooked up by those who want to seem like they’re in the know. One would expect the President to Tweet about this right about now if it’s real.

I know every Democrat and a lot of Republicans would be against it, but I would love to see Newt Gingrich as Chief of Staff. He’s one of the smartest people in DC and would challenge the President when appropriate. We’ll know soon enough.

The young couple had the chance to meet their son, Tinok (“baby”) ben Shira Yael.

(December 12, 2018 / JNS) The baby son of Amichai and Shira-Ish Ran, delivered by emergency Caesarean section at just 30 weeks, was pronounced dead on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

The young couple had the chance to meet their son, Tinok (“baby”) ben Shira Yael.

His 21-year-old mother remains hospitalized in stable condition after surgery. She was shot on Sunday night—the last night of Hanukkah—by Palestinian terrorists, along with her husband, who was also shot several times but has been reported to be recovering, and five other people at a bus stop near the town of Ofra in Samaria.

Shira and Amichai Ish-Ran married eight months ago and moved to Elon Moreh. Shira is studying education at Orot Israel College in Elkana, and Amichai is a yeshivah student in Elon Moreh.

“Our hearts are with Shira and Amichai on the loss of their 4-day-old baby who does not even have a name,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an event in Israel on Wednesday night. “These despicable murderers are the most despicable criminals on earth. The security forces are pursuing the murderers. I hope that there will be news on this soon. We will not rest until we have found them and brought them to justice.”

Education Minister Naftali Bennett called the death a tragedy, writing on Facebook: “Our heart is with Shira and Amichai, the heart cries out.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, the baby would be laid to rest on Wednesday night at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery.