On 29 June 2015, Hamas gunmen opened fire on a civilian vehicle moving along Israeli Route 60 near Shvut Rachel in the West Bank.
[6][7] According to Israeli security services, the same Hamas militant cell that carried out this attack, had fired, two days prior, at several vehicles including an ambulance on a road near Beitin, without causing casualties.
[4] The Palestinian militant groups Fatah al-Intifada, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) each claimed to have carried out the shooting.
[9] Among those arrested were Amjad Najar, Maad Hamad (who authorities suspected of being the shooter), Abdallah Atzhak (a former prisoner and suspected driver of the get-away car), Faaz Hamad (a known Hamas operative, who confessed), and Jamal Younes (who confessed to having the car used by the cell to a wrecking yard and to and helping the group acquire weapons).
[9] Black market prices for weapons and ammunition in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas have been rising, necessitating outside funding for the operation.
[30] Palestinian Arab Amjad Hamad was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for being the leader of the four-man Hamas terrorist cell that carried out the shooting.
[34] Following the event MK Nissan Slomiansky requested that the government respond to the attack by granting regional TABA (land designation)s to allow the construction of new housing units in Shvut Rachel.
[39] An illegal settlement named "Malachei Shalom" (Hebrew for Angels of Peace) in memory of the murdered man, Malachi Rosenfeld, was created, but rapidly evacuated by Israeli security forces.
[41][42][43] Hamas militant attacks in the Palestinian Authority controlled areas of the West Bank are said to be operated by former prisoners now living in Gaza.