Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad welcomed Friday’s terrorist attack near Otniel, in which terrorists ambushed a family vehicle and sprayed it with bullets, killing two people.

In a statement, Hamas praised what it called the “heroic operation carried out by the resistance south of Hevron.”

The attack, said the terrorist organization, “represents a qualitative development in the Al-Quds Intifada. It proves that the resistance can deter the occupation, which only understands the language of force”.

Similarly, the Islamic Jihad said that the attack was a response to “the crime committed by the occupation in the Hevron hospital yesterday”, a reference to the IDF’s operation to apprehend a wanted terrorist who was in a hospital in Hevron. The terrorist’s cousin was killed during the operation after he resisted arrest.

In Friday’s attack, Arab terrorists opened fire on the vehicle of the victims, killing a 40-year-old man and his 18-year-old son.

A 16-year-old boy was moderately wounded. He was treated by emergency services at the scene before being transferred to a nearby hospital.

IDF soldiers are currently sweeping the area in an attempt to intercept the terrorists. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizeknot ordered reinforcements to the area in order to swiftly capture the terrorists.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday evening vowed to bring the attackers to justice.

“We will get to these heinous murderers and we will bring them to justice as we have done in the past,” he said in a statement.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)