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Israeli forces try to forbid the vehicles to pass through an Israeli checkpoint after a Jewish settler was killed late on Tuesday, in Havat Gilad, a Jewish settlement near the Palestinian city of Nablus Nablus, on Jan 10, 2018. A Palestinian driver opened fire at an Israeli car in the West Bank on Tuesday night, killing an Israeli man, Israeli officials said. (Xinhua/Nidal Eshtayeh)

JERUSALEM, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian driver opened fire at an Israeli car in the West Bank on Tuesday night, killing an Israeli man, Israeli officials said.

Israel's military said in a statement that "troops are searching the area for the suspect."

The incident took place in Havat Gilad, a Jewish settlement near the Palestinian city of Nablus.

A Palestinian gunman in a passing car opened fire at the driver who was sitting in his car, an army spokesperson said in a statement.

The suspect fatally injured the 35-year-old Israeli, and fled the scene, prompting a manhunt.

The victim was rushed to the Meir Hospital in central Israel with multiple shots in his upper body, and a hospital spokesperson said he succumbed to his wounds less than two hours later.

His identity was not disclosed, but according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, he was a settler and a father of five children.

The incident was one of the gravest incidents in the latest surge of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The recent round of violence was triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Dec. 6.

The Palestinians wish to build their future capital in East Jerusalem, a territory that Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East war, together with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and annexed shortly later.