Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are to begin direct peace talks in Washington later on Thursday. The talks, hosted by Hillary Clinton at the US State Department, are the first such negotiations in 20 months. President Barack Obama held separate White House meetings with the leaders yesterday urging them not to let the chance of permanent peace slip away. The push for a deal comes amid fresh violence in the West Bank. An Israeli man and woman were shot and injured when the car they were travelling in came under fire from another vehicle near the Jewish settlement of Kochav Hashachar, to the east of Ramallah. Israeli officials said the man is in a serious condition in hospital. The attack came less than 24 hours after another West Bank shooting in which four Israelis were killed. The militant wing of the Islamist group Hamas has claimed responsibility for both attacks. Warning of more violence , Reuters news agency quoted Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri as saying the group would continue to target Israelis, despite a crackdown that has seen dozens of its members arrested by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli army has warned of a possible wave of attacks by Hamas militants trying to sabotage the Washington talks.