GAZA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Palestinian Islamist group
Hamas claimed responsibility on Thursday for a shooting attack in which two Israelis were wounded in the occupied
West Bank.
Wednesday's roadside attack, near the Jewish
settlement of Kochav Hashachar, occurred on the eve of face-to-face peace negotiations between Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.
Gunmen from Hamas, which rules the Palestinian
Gaza Strip but has been curbed by Abbas's forces in the West Bank, killed four settlers in a similar attack on Tuesday and had vowed more violence to derail the talks.
The attack (on Wednesday) was a message to those who pledged to the Zionist enemy that there would be no more attacks, said Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida, referring to Abbas's U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority administration. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Ralph Gowling)