Four Jewish settlers, including a child, were shot dead and another was seriously injured this evening when Palestinian militants ambushed two cars travelling south of the West Bank city of Hebron.
Three members of the same family from the settlement of Psagot near Ramallah, who were travelling in the first car, were shot dead, a spokesman for the Magen David Adom emergency services said.
They were visiting relatives in a settlement south of Hebron, and were heading north towards the Zif junction when the attackers opened fire from the western side of the road, Israeli private television also said.
Another settler travelling in the second car was killed in the shooting attack, the medical sources said. Israel public radio said the two cars were hit at the Zif junction.
Initial reports indicated that a group of armed Palestinians drove to the Zif junction from the direction of the Palestinian village of Yatta, south of Hebron, got out of the car and waited.
When the first car appeared, they began firing, during which time a second Israeli car appeared, the radio said.
Three people in the first car were killed, and a fourth was seriously wounded, while in the second car, another person was critically wounded and died shortly afterwards. No details were immediately available on the assailants. The army said they were combing the area but the attackers were believed to have fled into a nearby autonomous Palestinian zone.
An Israeli air raid targeting a top militant leader in Gaza City which left 13 civilians dead late Monday has sparked threats of bloody retaliation from all armed Palestinian factions.
The killing brings the overall death toll for the 22-month intifada to 2,340.
AFP