A Jewish settler was seriously injured today in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank in an attack claimed as a revenge strike by a hardline Palestinian faction whose chief was killed by Israeli rockets earlier in the day.
The man was hit in the head by one of three bullets fired on his car while travelling with another Israeli between Ilamar and Eilon Moreh settlements northeast of Nablus, Israeli public radio said.
The driver managed to carry on as far as an Israeli military camp, where he received emergency medical care.
It was the third such attack since Saturday night and was claimed in a statement by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), whose leader, Abu Ali Mustafa, was killed in Ramallah earlier today in an Israeli rocket attack.
"This attack was carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in immediate response to the Israeli assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa," the statement said, promising that "other operations will follow."
On Sunday, an Israeli was killed in a similar incident near the Maggal kibbutz in northern Israel, close to the demarcation line with Israel.
On Saturday night, three Israelis, including a married Jewish settler couple, were killed and two children injured in a Palestinian attack near Nablus.
Israel has answered these attacks by carrying out air and tank raids into Palestinian sectors in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, injuring a dozen Palestinians.
The Israeli army reported other violent incidents late today, including a driveby Palestinian shooting at the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba near the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron, which caused no injuries.
It said a number of grenades were also thrown at Israeli army positions in Rafah, on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which failed to inflict damage or injuries.
And in a worrying sign, Palestinian security sources said armed clashes, including tank shelling, had erupted around Beit Jala, on the southern edge of Jerusalem, after the army said Palestinian gunmen had opened fire at the neighbouring Jewish settlement of Gilo.
Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon threatened two weeks ago to storm the neighbouring autonomous Palestinian town of Beit Jala if Gilo was shot at again, following heavy fighting that almost led the army to send in tanks to the town.
AFP