Israeli troops have killed a Palestinian outside Hebron who carried out a deadly Sabbath attack on a Jewish settlement near the divided West Bank city, the army said today.
In Tulkarm, another West Bank city subjected to Israeli crackdowns during a 27-month-old Palestinian uprising, soldiers shot and wounded two men who attacked them with grenades.
The weekend violence coincided with a heightened Israeli military sweep for suspected Palestinian militants amid fears of a surge of hostility ahead of an Israeli election on January 28th.
Last night, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a home near the Givat Harsina settlement where a family with five children were celebrating the Jewish Sabbath. The father was killed and three other people wounded.
An armed settler inside the home killed one of the gunmen, and his partner fled, the army said. Soldiers gave chase.
"Early this morning our forces tracked the terrorist down near Givat Harsina and shot him dead. He was found to be wearing combat webbing with rifle clips inside," an army spokesman said on Saturday.
Palestinian medical officials in Hebron said the army had handed over the man's body, but that his identity was not immediately known. Hamas, an Islamic group sworn to Israel's destruction, claimed responsibility for the settlement attack.